Ack. Am I the only person who has noticed that the more “environmentally friendly” we get, the more trash we make? Also, we don’t reuse nearly as many things as we used to. Finally, has anyone ever given two thoughts about how things are recycled (hint: it takes electricity which is made by burning fossil fuels)? Or that plastic, when broken down creates noxious fumes?
The most biodegradable option (also highly reusable) are paper bags. Yet, companies don’t go back to using them, because they costs the companies more money than plastic does. Instead, they promote “reusable” bags and pass the costs on to consumers. The reusable bags don’t last forever so more and more will eventually fill the trash heaps and because they are coated in plastic will take much longer to break down than paper sacks (you know, the kind that used to come FREE from every store?).
So, customers are once again being charged more and given less. AND the companies have convinced consumers that it’s not about the money (which it IS—it is ALWAYS about the money).
My gripe is that we used to get food in glass, cardboard, foil and occasionally some waxed paper.
Now, we get plastic, plastic, plastic-coated paper, more plastic and styrofoam. Just look at the packaging the next time you shop. How many times do you have to take something out of plastic? Or what about those horrible clamshell plastic packages you have to cut open to get the product out? Even Hershey bars went to those weird foil colored plastic wrappers instead of the paper and foil they used to used to use. Yet, the uproar from environmental groups always seems to be about bags or straws — never about things like packaging that actually has a much larger impact.
Sorry about the rant, but these threads come up all the time with people congratulating themselves for being so environmentally conscious and defending the companies. The companies are NOT making these decisions for the environment. They are thinking about profit first and PR second. For them, a decision like this is win-win.
I would be more convinced if they’d go back to free paper sacks.