There is currently much discussion in our community about whether there should be a citywide ban on “single-use plastic bags.” To help explain that term, those are the bags that most stores offer freely to hold our purchases, that we consumers unthinkingly accept as necessity, and that often pile up in our kitchens and cars, and are all too often seen blowing around county roads. I do not believe that the continued use of these bags is good for our community. Here’s why I support our city adopting a ban on these bags:

The source of a plastic shopping bag is petroleum, the fossil fuel that is getting more scarce each year. So many good and lasting uses for it, but to waste it to make single-use plastic bags? By the billions? There is energy consumed at every step of the process of delivering that single-use bag to us. Is this what we need to use our precious energy for? Let’s not forget the by-products of the manufacture and shipping of billions of bags, or the cost of landfill space, or the impacts to air and water quality. These are costs our children will bear.

“But I need my plastic bag!” Ponder that “need” for a moment. We do need bags. And we usually prefer products that save us money by being durable or useful in multiple ways. So when we need a bag, why not choose a durable shopping bag, a reusable shopping bag?

Many people now question their “need” for the single-use plastic bag, and seek better alternatives without compromising convenience. Bring your own bags when you shop. Remind the clerk who automatically hands you a plastic bag that you don’t need it. Better yet, urge stores to promote or sell reusable bags, or not to offer plastic automatically.

Continuing to use them now out of convenience cannot serve our community well in the long term. So I support a citywide ban, and I hope you will too. I predict the change will be easier than we thought.

Bob Oswald

Durango