The Big Bag Theory

Last Autumn, we stopped for groceries at the Harris Teeter in Baltimore City, and when we checked out, I remembered that plastic bags are not allowed in the city. We got paper bags, and they worked well, just as they always did.  And they are eminently recyclable!

And now citizens are urging the Baltimore County Council to enact a similar ban, on the grounds that plastic bags are harshing the environment, as they foul waterways and fill landfills People who want Baltimore County businesses to be barred from using plastic bags told the County Council Tuesday that the bags are a scourge on the environment by fouling waterways and overfilling landfills.

“(Plastic bags) clog storm drains, they get caught in trees, they’re just everywhere in huge numbers,” said Andrew Miller at a hearing last week. Miller didn't just ride into town on a head of cabbage; he lives here, and is professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at the U of Maryland, Baltimore County.  “They harm wildlife and aquatic life, not only in streams and wetlands, but in the Chesapeake Bay and the world’s oceans.”

This is predictable: those speaking in opposition of the bag ban claim it would place an undue burden on shoppers and businesses.

A vote on the measure is scheduled for tonight, but you can expect all sorts of amendments to be attached to the bill, so stand by for results... 

There are considerations, to be sure. Restaurants and carry-outs are not keen on using paper bags, which tend to tear as soon as a little Moo-Goo Gai Pan spills out.  And for health code reasons, they say they can't allow customers to bring in their own tote sacks.

As proposed, the new law would take effect this November 1. It sponsors call it the Bring Your Own Bag Act.  As currently proposed, it would allow for a dime charge to be made when customers don't Bring Their Own Bag and want to get a paper or reusable bag at the register.

I'll tell you this - those of us penny-pinchers who shop at Aldi or Lidl to save on milk, butter, and ground beef are used to toting our own totes into the store - and bagging the order ourselves. It's not that hard, and anyone who attends any sort of grand opening or expo or Senior Extravaganza already has a closet full of reusable sacks.

Bring our own and save both a dime, and a stream! The slogans write themselves.