Here's a thought about plastic bag bans:
As we combat the coronavirus pandemic it’s important for Americans to note that many environmental initiatives that purport to “save the planet” not only restrict consumer choice and hurt the business sector— it also puts the public safety at risk.Read the whole thing.
Take the plastic bag bans here in Massachusetts and beyond.
In an effort to “go green” many states have banned disposable plastic bags at supermarkets and other retail locations causing a massive consumer shift to reusable shopping bags we’re now learning could contain the virus.
The coronravirus can live on surfaces for days, including on reusable shopping bags, which are notoriously filthy. Studies have shown that most people don’t clean their reusable bags.
For that reason, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu issued an emergency order over the weekend prohibiting reusable shopping bags and requiring that stores use disposable plastic or paper bags instead.
“Our grocery store workers are on the front lines of COVID-19, working around the clock to keep New Hampshire families fed,” Sununu said in a statement. “With identified community transmission, it is important that shoppers keep their reusable bags at home given the potential risk to baggers, grocers and customers.”
I read somewhere that pollution in the US and China has gone way down over the past couple of weeks.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/01/dramatic-fall-in-china-pollution-levels-partly-related-to-coronavirus
Can't see how baggers are at risk since the only bagger here is the customer. The usual procedure is for a cashier to to ring the order up and take a break while the customer bags and does the credit card transaction. Most people are so tired of a sneezing, coughing-without-covering elderly cashier that they avoid the stores that dont have self-checkout. Its time to give people who are coughing and sneezing on to the goods and the bags either another job or gloves to change into after they cough into their arm.
ReplyDeletePlastic bags and straws were implemented for two reasons: portability and hygiene. You can't have take out food with china and glass. But you also impose the cost of commercial dishwashers and the people to run them which is another layer of cost fastfood franchises cannot layer into the cost structure. Some people literally cannot drink without a straw. They have physical issues that preclude using a conventional cup. But how well do you think those permanent straws are really being cleaned. Whether it's measles, a cold or Corona Virus, and the entire family ends up infected. Likewise plastic bags were meant to replace paper bags. Don't you recall how choosing plastic over paper was "saving a tree?" For all the claims, few people wash their cloth grocery bags and they certainly seldom use hot water and bleach, As a result, many are already carrying germs and bacteria from that last package of chicken that is smeared onto fresh produce carelessly into the same bag. I think one of the more ludicrous issues is bottled water. I don't know how many half empty expensive bottles of water I ended up throwing away in my classroom. In that case I am all for students having their own container to bring water. But as with all cans of worms, the ability to bring illicit materials to class has caused that to be a dilemma.
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