A love-hate thing for plastic bags
Re “Sack the bags,” editorial, July 22
Your editorial description of plastic bags as an “environmental atrocity” is a semantic atrocity. The obsession with plastic bags is staggering. Myths about plastic bags abound on the misinformation superhighway. We have found it necessary to create a website in an attempt to address the unfair and absurd stigma that has attached to plastic bags.
We have also sued Los Angeles County for adopting a phased ban of plastic bags. We contend that the county based its action on a one-sided report that cherry-picked facts with the goal of justifying a ban.
We hope the court will force the county to conduct an objective analysis with the goal of finding the truth.
Stephen L. Joseph
San Francisco
The writer is counsel for SaveThePlasticBag.com.
It is amazing to see how detached from everyday needs not only politicians but also newspaper people are. Most of us use those flimsy plastic shopping bags to put the daily trash in and take it to the bins.
If we don’t have them because of shortsighted decisions, we will have to buy bags, and they will be the ones that end up in the dump. That will be another expense we’ll have to face, not that city politicians or Times writers care.
Marta S. Lucero
Oxnard
I find it rather ironic that The Times wrote an editorial in support of banning plastic bags in grocery stores. At least four of the seven days I go out to retrieve my edition of The Times, I find it swathed in plastic -- rain or shine. So please heed the old adage, “Physician, heal thyself.”
Jackie Hansen
Mission Hills
Contrary to current wisdom, there are actually worthwhile things to do with those pesky plastic bags.
I consider myself to be something of a “bag lady” and have a sizable collection of colored plastic bags that I cut into strips and use to crochet handy, attractive purses. Also, contrary to the statement about “those flimsy shopping bags,” they are practically indestructible. Just don’t get them close to a hot surface.
I will hoard my bags jealously in case the concern about their role in environmental pollution (which I certainly understand) serves to dry up my future supply.
Mele Bond
Oak Hills
