pcgeek11
Lifer
- Jun 12, 2005
- 21,513
- 4,607
- 136
_Some_ areas and countries are indeed short of landfill space, though I doubt the US is.
But small plastic items like bags and straws are particularly likely to end up scattered across the countryside/cityscape rather than staying put in landfill. People drop them as litter in a way they don't with larger items, and they get blown around by the wind more. Sometimes you can tell you are near a landfill site by all the plastic bags apparently growing on the nearby trees.
What is it with many US right-wingers and their determination to oppose anything they think 'liberals' might support, even if it means cutting their own throats? It's a bit pathetic at times.
Plastic waste is a problem, it even gets into the food chain.
Doesn't mean _every_ 'green' sounding proposal needs to be supported uncritically (there are certainly plenty of flawed ones, e.g. feed-in tariffs for microwind and solar), but it's perfectly valid even for those with a deep faith in 'markets' to want to look closely at how to internalise externalities like litter and pollution.
I agree they should outlaw plastic straws and go back to paper ones.
The same for those plastic grocery bags. They are recyclable, but many just throw them into regular trash.