Plastic bags = not that bad

March 8th, 2008

I never get plastic bags when I buy things. Well, maybe very occasionally.

But I always suspected there was something a bit stupid about claims that they do great, great damage.

Indeed:

The central claim of campaigners is that the bags kill more than 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds every year. However, this figure is based on a misinterpretation of a 1987 Canadian study in Newfoundland, which found that, between 1981 and 1984, more than 100,000 marine mammals, including birds, were killed by discarded nets. The Canadian study did not mention plastic bags.

Plastic bags may be a nuisance, but the fact that you use 1000+ plastic bags when filling up with a few gallons of gas in your car should give you some perspective. The fact is that ugly cities… cities filled with trash and rubbish will almost certainly result in more government spending and more focus on the “environment”. Indeed, most people consider the “environment” to mean scenic beauty. And so a few bags here and there will likely increase public sentiment to increase spending on the “environment”, and while those people may think that that spending will go to clean-ups, sure, it will also go to true environmental causes like watersheds, etc etc.

So next time, take the bag and don’t worry. (But maybe don’t drive as much in compensation!)

Hell, didn’t Edward Abbey recommend that people freely litter in cities so as to give the Boy Scouts something to do?

Tags:

Related posts: Reasons I hate the New York Times, Biofuels = stupid idea, Tiny houses...

4 Comments Add your own

  • 1. petrichor  |  March 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am

    sorry, that is just wrong:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pacific_Gyre

  • 2. Peter Bray  |  March 8th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    I agree. I drank too many glasses of wine last night and don’t know what I was thinking.

  • 3. petrichor  |  March 13th, 2008 at 7:52 am

    :)

Leave a Comment

Required

Required, hidden

Required (to fight spam)

Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Trackback this post  |  Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed


Try Angie's List!


Outdoor Kids Gear


Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center

About Land Use Watch

Commentary and hyperbole on land use issues impacting the NW, the US, the world... Contact at peter (at) landusewatch.com ... Please email postal address to inquire about receiving Land Use Watch in monthly hard-copy periodical format.

Recent Comments

wickerman: “tnr”works? and the numbers of these bastard creatures grow every year? yes, is evil to kill animals, except cats. everyone who kill a cat is a happy man. because cats are like terorists, they kill for the PLEASURE to kill. Let the volunteers to kill stray cats, and keep the domestic cats indoor, else…
-- 5:17 am, September 27, 2008 in Feral cats destroying Iowa

Tara M. Adams: The Donald?!! The Devil!!!!
-- 2:28 pm, September 2, 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland: Let’s Dump Trump

micheelgeorge: When Plum Creek Timber Company bought 900,000 acres – 1,400 square miles – of Maine woods in 1998, it bought more than trees. It bought mountains along the Appalachian Trail, tens of wild trout ponds, miles of land flanking the Kennebec and Moose rivers and over 60 miles of shoreline along Moosehead Lake. ————&# 8211; micheel Utah Drug Addiction
-- 7:38 am, August 25, 2008 in Plum Creek Timber Company versus Moosehead Maine?

Kitty Clasing: I am looking for the closest trap, neuter and release program in Mason City, Iowa-50401
-- 8:45 am, August 5, 2008 in Trap, neuter, release and the Iowa cats

Stephanie: The argument that killing all cats to stop predatory behaviour on native creatures should then justify the killing of native predators is pure crap. The native animals are part of the natural cycle; cats are introduced by people. Like blackberries, and scotch bloom and English ivy, and starlings they are an invasive species that are driving out natives. Feeding and promoting feral cat populations should be a crime. They carry diseases like roundworm, heartworm, and hookworm, various forms of FIV and feline leukemia, distemper, and all manner of other sicknesses that cost responsible pet owners thousands of dollars to treat...
-- 2:59 pm, June 20, 2008 in Free James Stevenson

Lucas Stahl: Being an american citizen and knowing Donald Trumps past, the public of Aberdeen have to make it their scottish duty to keep Trump away from their lands. He has a way of taking everything from you and giving little in return. Your town will become the \”Las Vegas\” of Scotland with thousands of disrespectful tourists deficating over your lands and family. I know you think it will create jobs for your town and boost the economy but there are other means to do this; not through an ignorant; greed riddled man who makes a habit of stomping his feet, throwing out his chest and holding his...
-- 10:07 am, June 11, 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland: Let’s Dump Trump

victoria davidson: I am a first generation American whos family are from the UK. I strongly disagree with the “Trump” philosophy in America. Mr. Trump’s buliding along the Chicago River is an architectural monstroisity. Yet it is wrong to assume all Americans are “narcissictic & greedy”. One of the reasons I love my UK visits is because of the timeless natural beauty along the coastlines not tainted with resorts and casinos. I applaud your efforts to block the building of this environmental disaster and hope you succeed. Perhaps Mr. Trump can find another venu to honour his...
-- 10:07 am, June 11, 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland: Let’s Dump Trump

Antoinette Harrington: I am an American, sick to death of “the donald” and his belief that his wealth entitles him to buy and destroy any piece of land on the globe. My dislike for him is indeed emotional, having seen how he destroyed the beauty of the Chicago River landscape with his Trump monstrosity. I hope and pray you will continue fighting till the last to prevent this man from achieving his goal. He will claim his plan is environmentally sound, and his witnesses will agree (though knowing the political climate, their agreement carries a price tag). Unlike Trump, I cannot afford to enjoy the...
-- 11:02 am, June 10, 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland: Let’s Dump Trump

jj: Um, yeah, Most of that is BS. Get your facts right. Biofuels release carbon emissions, yes, but in carbon DIOXIDE. That’s what the plants eat. It doesn’t matter how much fuel the plant makes from sunlight, because we are fermenting it anyways. Soybean oil and biodiesel contain no sulfur and generate no sulfur emissions, a major source of acidification in rain and surface water. This makes biodiesel the best technology currently available for heavy-duty diesel applications to reduce atmospheric carbon. So basically, the best we have for right now. Oh, yeah, and about the hunger stuff, I have a solution: DON”T USE...
-- 10:12 am, June 9, 2008 in Biofuels = stupid idea

Muscle Guitar: I agree with the author.Don’t report a feral cat colony to a humane society or rescue group.I have a neighbor who feeds feral cats and they became a real problem.They don’t act like house cats.They are constantly stalking prey like birds,squirrels and small rabbits.The tom cats are relentless sprayers. I mentioned this to my neighbor,and she acted as if it were none of my business that the cats were damaging my property. Better to report the colony to Animal Control,then if the cats are coming on your property let them trap them.Find a discreet place where the neighbors can’t see the...
-- 7:48 pm, June 8, 2008 in Feral cats = huge environmental problem!

Emma: NO ONE SHOULD KILL ANIMALS! EVEN FERAL CATS! IT’S EVIL! I know I it might be “killing widlife” and “spreading disease”, but NO ONE should kill kitties!
-- 10:10 am, June 3, 2008 in Feral cats destroying Iowa

Louie: I’m from Hong Kong, China. Just read the newspaper (it’s in Chinese) that the breeding program has begun. What’s more? There’re two male specimens left in Vietnam. Don’t know if they’ll transport these two males to China and let them breed with the only female. If it happens, it’s a good news that it could extend the diversity of this species’ gene pool.
-- 7:24 pm, June 1, 2008 in Two Yangtze giant soft-shell turtles left… will China do anything?

Saki: Do the math. Either way, killing a cat or neutering a cat means one less cat that can reproduce, meaning the feral population will go down and eventually die out. The big question is do you want to behave like a psychopath in the making and kill innocent cats, or do you want to show that you really are smarter than other animals and get the cats neutered so they can live out the rest of their lives naturally? Before you answer that question, THINK; don\’t just react. Rednecks can be smart too. Proove that you\’re not a stereotype.
-- 8:39 pm, May 28, 2008 in Feral cats = huge environmental problem!

dhtuisgjkzdfghjksd: the lng is gay
-- 11:01 am, May 28, 2008 in LNG and the Columbia: bad news

dallas: that is totaly right. i have to tright a paper on them and this cite rocks.
-- 12:57 pm, May 27, 2008 in Ocelots in Texas!?

Tag Cloud

measure 49 oregon measure 37 pessimism oregonians in action endangered species washington private property I 933 optimism media california elections 1000 friends sprawl feral cats consumerism rivers logging land auction china LNG portland parks energy england gorge florida africa proposition 90 gop canada wetlands transportation stupid religion politicians ocean india farms towns texas scotland nonprofits nevada missouri metro maine louisiana japan Idaho iceland gordon smith forests fish colorado climate brazil australia amazon wyoming utah salmon ross day Proposition 207 population pollution osu new york military measure 48 maryland kansas ireland invasive species hunting guyana georgia france Ecuador economics desert cuba connecticut community chile cambodia burma borneo big look Arizona alaska alabama

Posts by Date

March 2008
M T W T F S S
« Feb   Apr »
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Posts by Month

  • Blogroll

  • Land Use Advocacy

  • Tools

    • Feeds