I posted this over at Muscati's, but thought I would post it here to allow the slamfest of my opinions to not take up so much space on his blog.
The conversation is about the recent shift that Carrefour has made from plastic to no bags in an attempt to be more earth friendly due to the campaigns that have been happening in Oman to make the switch away from plastic grocery bags. Which I totally agree with. However, it is the attitude of "blame the corporations for the litter" that bugs me. One guy posted that the answer was to get rid of plastic bags entirely...I'm thinking of all the plastic things we use and could never possibly get rid of...it isn't the plastic's fault people throw it in the ocean!
Here was my response...I expect some people to rip my heart out...go for it.
I'm sorry...I'm about to have some haters...I really feel like our society has totally turned from the idea of personal responsibility to a blame society. I mean, how backwards are we? We target the plastic bag makers and not the people who use them and throw them down? Sure we can stop making plastic bags...and diapers...and wrappers of any kind. and eventually we can have nothing whatsoever to trash! But we all know that isn't quite so..people would still find ways to trash things. Those dang jute bags will be there instead.
Rather than blaming the things we use, we need to start blaming the people who use them.This "blame others for my mistakes" attitude is exactly why I stopped teaching. NO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONES OWN ACTIONS.
I'm no fan of the plastic bag, and don't misinterpret what I am saying. I just have really strong feelings about this kind of misplacement of blame. Grocery stores have to send their products home in something...and that is where they send them...home...they don't throw them out there...people do.
And you know...these things can be recycled. I used to put plastic bags in the recycle bin all the time. I also keep them and use them for various things - over and over and over again.
And what exactly ARE carrefour bags made out of? Nylon? I'm not sure. What happens when someone decides to throw that out to sea? And how long does it take to decompose the jute bags? In the meantime what happens when an animal gets caught in that from someone throwing it on the ground? Where do we stop the vicious circle of blame and start really taking responsibility?
I understand there isn't much that people can do about others choices...but please spare me the rhetoric of shutting down production of plastic bags...what about all of those peoples jobs? You gonna cry about the loss of jobs next? Just stop using the plastic...carry a few extra bags around with you and give one to the person in front of you who didn't bring their own as a gift to inspire them NOT to use the plastic. Give them as presents to friends and family. Heck, go purchase a ton and start handing them out at the checkout stands... use them as the gift bag at your next birthday part and put a nice bow on it...oh wait! Don't do that. I'm pretty sure those bows are made out of plastic and might not decompose before strangling that whale's tonsil chord who swallowed it. So skip the bow...
People need to be more aware of the damage they are doing by the placement of such products...so keep up the campaigns regarding them and place more focus on personal responsibility.
I forgot to bring my bags to al fair the other day...but I didn't have a choice...I had to purchase groceries. I saved those plastic bags and will be using them for various things and then cutting them up before throwing them in the trash. Am I evil? Bwahahahahhahaaaaaaaaa! And what should they have put my bread in? Cloth? Honestly, I think that next time I forget my bags I will ask them to just put the groceries in the cart without bags...but any suggestions about things like bread and fruits and vegetables? I'm open to your thoughts.Sheesh...I should have posted this seperately on my blog. woops!
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6 comments:
Amber it is a good post on social responsibility, it is time that we take responsibility of our own actions instead of starting the never ending blame-games.
Jute has a lifespan of approximately 1,500 cycles (if used with care), meaning you can reduce 1,500 plastic bags from the environment by buying one jute bag, and have a holding capacity of up to 25 pounds of weight (bags like the ones at Carrefour).
A quick note to the readers, if you are only buying a couple of things which can be easily held in hands (soda, bread, chocolates, etc), don't let the cashier place the items in a bag, carry in your own hand.
If I forget my reusable bags, I usually put my items in my purse, but I tend to use a large purse...that's just for a small shopping trip. If it's a large trip, I kick myself and buy another bag. It's not very expensive, and they come in so handy!
As for fruits and veggies, I've bought pineapples and bananas and the fruit and veggie weigher will try and put my pineapple and bananas in their own seperate plastic bags.
I'm like, Dude, it's already got it's own protection, I don't need bags for those.
They look at me funny and hand them back.
Back home they used to use biodegradable bags for the fruit and veggies, and brown paper bags for potatoes... then again, you could recycle plastic (and paper!) bags at your doorstep...
The check out people here don't seem to care for the environment or care for keeping their employers costs down, because they will bag every single thing, individually, if you let them.
It's tricky.
Yes personal accountability, but also corporate awareness on the most basic level, the people who bag items.
The baggers need to not be so liberal with bags, and also the customer needs to say, hey wait a minute...
But also, people need to stop throwing things on the ground and in the sea.
This isn't just the country Oman, this is the earth, which belongs to everyone.
I have a lot of thoughts on the environment...
100% agree that bags are useful – they save damage to produce – make life easy – are cheap in fact are amazing to use etc .
Could they be made with alternative material, could they be made to biodegrade quicker – CFCs have been legislated away and replaced by a good alternative - plastic bags as we know could also changed and still keep their practically - and we would all be saved the guilt using them
I managed to do that a lot initially, forget my green-bags @ home. And when I had purchased ~ 25 of them, enough was enough.
Now 5-7 greenbags can be found in my car in various nooks, crannies and the boot. They get used wherever I shop. I've been known to carry Carrefour bags to alFair and alFair bags to Sultan Center, and have gotten strange looks on the way! :)
But atleast I'm green! If I were blue I would die, if I were blue I would...
:D
-TFK
Fark- how funny! I do the same thing with the bag mixing. I have some that I got in Paris that I use here...not sure what they say as they are in french.
I try to keep them in my car...but somehow they always get brought in...I need to stash them like you in unusual places.
Sab - thanks for the jute info...what happens if someone decides to litter with one of those babies? eh? Good advice on the hand carrying.
Angry - I don't like purses unfortunately. Al fair didn't have any bags for me to buy - I asked. That's ok though - I will find other uses for those bags. Thanks for the produce advice. I really didn't think they would let me just put the sticker right on the fruit...
yno - that would be really nice for them to be able to use biodegradeable bags...but that still doesn't take care of the people who just throw things down. Biogradeable takes time to break down and won't really save any animals...they will still die long before it breaks down.
The problem with plastic bags is way too big to put just blame it on people who don't dispose of them properly. They are far too dangerous and cause way too much damage to have an attitude like yours. No one's blaming the corporations and no one's blame the manufacturers. It's the product itself. They need to be regulated just like all other harmful products are regulated.
It's like saying "guns don't call people, people do". Does that mean gun sales shouldn't be regulated? Alcohol doesn't cause people to drink and drive, it's the people who drink and then drive who are dangerous. True, right?
These plastic bags, they destroy the environment. They kill thousands of animals every year. They don't biodegrade. Even when people want to use them in a safe manner, they are so flimsy and thin that the often tear in the garbage bins and fly away.
So why not regulate them? Why not put a fee on them, enforce laws where they have to be made from sturdier material and then taxed. If people pay 50 or 100 baisas for each plastic bag they get while shopping, they will start reusing them. If plastic bags weren't free, kids won't be throwing them on the street. If plastic bags weren't free they wouldn't everywhere. Carrefour's reusable bag is made from nylon or some sort of plastic. But it costs 250 baisas and not many people would buy one and then dispose of it the way people dispose of the thin plastic bags.
Europe regulates plastic bags. Some countries in Africa have banned them outright.
Reusable plastic bags are a legitimate option, and now all the major supermarkets are selling them so there's no excuse really for people who continue to use plastic bags.
I would like Oman to start a phased plan, first step enforce that all plastic bags should be biodegradable, immediately after that put a tax on plastic bags so that even shops that don't plan to sell them will have to charge for them, final phase in a few years: outright ban of the thin bags like the kind supermarkets currently give away.
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