Letters to the Editor: Banning plastic bags will be mildly inconvenient. Get over it
To the editor: Regarding the environmental damage from plastic and specifically plastic bags, no better illustration of the problem could be made than from two letters printed on Sept. 14.
A thoughtful letter on the need to favor long-term survival over temporary convenience was followed by the best example of the shortsightedness that leads people to pay 10 cents to use plastic grocery bags. A good test would be to see which letter will be more highly regarded in 50 years.
While the idea of "progress" often masked tremendous suffering by millions and terrific damage to our natural environment, those terrible effects were swept away by a tidal wave of expediency, selfishness and laziness, future problems be damned.
While the expectations of the "here and now" were always that sometime in the future, someone, somehow would resolve the issues, we can see by reading the rest of the newspaper that that future is now.
But only if we are willing to pay 10 cents for not just the environment, but for the future.
David Gooler, Pasadena
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To the editor: You have published letters to the editor complaining that The Times' print edition is delivered to subscribers in plastic bags.
I collect those bags daily and reuse them for all groceries that need to be refrigerated. I also pick up my cat's hairballs with them.
There are many ways to reuse the bags, so don't just throw them out.
Carolyn Young, Glendale
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
