We can live better without plastic bags

This is in response to Mike Antonovich’s Nov. 24 letter “Not the proper time for a bag ban.”

You wrote: “This is not the appropriate time in our efforts to clean up the environment ...” Really? When exactly is the appropriate time then?

I believe we should have banned the plastic bag eons ago. In fact, we probably never should have started allowing plastic bags to be used.

“Educating our residents on the harm of illegally disposing their plastic bags can be effective,” you go on to say. Again, I say really? Have you not seen litter after a public event? Even though there are signs posted that say “don’t litter”?

What sort of taxpayer money are you planning to use to educate people on the neglect of plastic bag disposal that has not already been put out there?

A few months ago I helped clean up a portion of the Los Angeles River. I would say about half the trash I collected consisted of plastic bags, the very kind that you think we should keep. Every event I have gone to lately gives out reusable canvas bags, which I keep in my car and use for my grocery shopping.

Look at the bigger picture, Mr. Antonovich. Without plastic bags, they won’t end up in the Los Angeles River on the way to our beaches and landfills.

Give people a little credit. They’ll adapt without the plastic bag and in so doing will aid in cleaning up the environment.

Jeri Anderson

Glendale