There was an article published by Bloomberg yesterday, January 23rd, that said that California would potentially become the first U.S. state to ban use of plastic bags:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-24/california-lawmakers-poised-for-new-plastic-bag-assault.html
I thought this was a really interesting article, for a couple of reasons. First, it makes me realize how quickly things can change. I remember being a child and going to the grocery store with my mom, and everything we bought was automatically placed in plastic bags. No one ever offered an alternative, such as paper bags, and as far as I know, none of the customers thought to ask. Fast forward 10 or 15 years, and suddenly everything that seemed so normal not so long ago, is no longer okay. We talked about this in class briefly – about how the shift towards reusable bags started with a small group of people trying to change the actions of an entire society. I think it’s really impressive how far things have come, in a relatively short period of time
The second reason that the article is of interest is that my group is working on the project to promote water sustainability in the city of Vancouver. This project feels very similar to the plastic grocery bag problem, because we’re trying to change the way a group of people think about their water supply. Initially, this feels like a daunting mission. But somehow, after hearing that an entire U.S. state is considering banning plastic bags, it seems that over time, it is not impossible to change the way a society thinks.
Lastly, this article raises the point that some people feel this initiative is simply a cash grab. The quote in the article is: “It’s yet another job-killing, big-grocer cash-grab masquerading as an environmental bill.” I think this type of reaction occurs quite frequently when it comes to green initiatives; no one wants to pay more money – especially for paper bags when they’ve become so used to free plastic bags. I know it’s tough to change, especially when some habits are so ingrained, but I think this type of behavioral change is a good thing. For me personally, I’m happy to take my reusable bags to the store. Especially if the alternative is seeing my discarded plastic bags washing up on Kits beach. Yuck.
Great post Dragana. I agree with what you’re saying and I too have noticed the culture shift in grocery stores. I also agree that attempting to change behaviours and habits is a very difficult task. However I think that consumers will not make a big change like that on their own. In my opinion consumers are lazy and will not want to change the status quo if it takes a lot of effort for minimal impact on their own lives. Why would a consumer pay extra for a paper bag when they have other options that are free and just as effective. Sure, opting for a paper bag instead of a plastic bag is better for the environment, but it’s just less bad and not entirely good. Even though the paper may be recycled, it will eventually need to be thrown away. I think that in order for a society to make a big behavioural change it needs to come from the government, like California is doing. It is up to the government to implement laws that restrict choice. Governments should remove the options of paper and plastic bags and make it mandatory to use cloth bags. I know that sounds very dictatorial, and will especially be rejected in the States, but I think its the only way a societal change will happen quickly.
It’s interesting to compare straight up bans like California is considering with less restrictive policies that charge a few cents for bags instead, like they do in some Canadian cities including Toronto. While bans are obviously more effective, they also reduce citizens’ autonomy to make decisions which can often have negative political consequences for whoever imposes the ban. This great paper by a UBC prof sheds some light on what policies are most effective in this area in case you want to explore it further: https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/44480/Foster_Jake_GEOG_419_2013.pdf?sequence=1
I remember going to the states to go shopping. We stopped by for groceries in Bellingham and there were no plastic bags, but they did have brown paper bags in place of the free plastic bags.
I like how you pointed out it was a behavioural thing. If you stop and think about it, we have been “privileged” to have free plastic bags in the past. Just because it’s always been free does not mean that there is no cost associated with it. I think a lot of the people that are against this idea because they feel like their right to something free is being taken away by environmentalists. The perspectives that one can take on concerns like this are interesting to observe.