I've had enough. Please, NO MORE TALK ABOUT GETTING RID OF PLASTIC BAGS!
Everyone seems to treat it like cutting plastic bag use is going to save the world. Well, it WONT
In fact, its not going to make one scrap of difference. What happens to all the plastic bags now? They end up in landfill. So what;s the problem??? Hey, heaps of other rubbish and crap end up there too. In fact, if you took your average bag of rubbish, and weighed the plastic bag that wraps it, and then weighed the actual rubbish, then surely its obvious there's no issue here. In fact, the plastic bag probably wouldnt even register on anything except the most sensitive scientific scales. Then weigh a tin can, or food wrapper, or a nappy, or, well just about anything else you could throw out. A tissue probably weighs more.
Just one nappy (just ONE) that we throw away at home occupies more weight and space than probably 500 stupid dumb plastic bags. I dont even reckon 0.1% of the content of a landfill would consist of plastic bags.
And even if you ban them, then what happens. People just buy bin liners made out of...PLASTIC! Hey, maybe we can go back to paper bags. Yeah, that'd be great. Lets chop down a rainforest so we can get rid of plastic bags. Or lets not line our bins. Lets chuck all the food scraps straight in there. Of course, its got added benefits if you're obsessed with FLIES and COCKROACHES.
Tell you what else happens. People will probably just pay the levy for the bags anyway unless they buy bin liners. And since everybody needs them at home, everyone's going to pay for them. And when everyone pays a levy to the government, its no longer a levy. ITS A TAX. And who pays the most? The people with the big families who buy HEAPS of stuff at the supermarket and have the most waste. So lets start taxing the people who can least afford it just to make some idealist left wing loonies a little bit happier.
Why dont people get real. Do you think banning bags is going to actually save the environment? I dont remember the last time a species became extinct because of a plastic bag. I dont think the world climate will cool 2 degrees because we dont use plastic bags any more. I sure hope this 'symbol' is a bit more than Rudd is hoping to achieve with the government. Maybe in 10 years time we'll have no water, not be able to go outside in the sunshine and lose half our coast lines, but at least we can say we got rid of plastic bags and what a wonderful gesture it was.
So is banning plastic bags going to achieve anything?
No. Its just going to piss me off.
[Rant off. I feel better now]