In standing at the grocery store checkout line, the options available to hold my many items often have me feeling like Ariana Grande in her hit-single, “thank u, next.” One taught me love (my trusty reusable canvas bag!), one taught me patience (paper bags… I don’t think I’ve ever carried a paper grocery bag full of heavy foodstuffs and not experienced the frustration of having its two flimsy handles rip off, leaving my groceries scattered on the garage floor), one taught me pain (ah, plastic grocery bags, the bane of our class’ existence). While I am able to (albeit grudgingly) recognize and accept the merits of single-use plastic grocery bags, it is more difficult for me to understand why anyone would rather use the flimsy totes than a reusable grocery bag.
I will always advocate for reusable cloth or canvas bags as alternatives to plastic totes; taking my two reusable canvas bags shopping serves so many purposes. They’re reliable and so much stronger than any single-use paper or plastic bag, more comfortable on the arms to carry, more environmentally friendly, and, being as colorfully painted as they are, so much less of an eyesore. Four or five birds, one stone! Given my love for reusable bags, it’s difficult for me to empathize with opponents to the plastic bag ban movement. Yes, I appreciate plastic bags being for me when I need them (in a pinch, it’s entirely understandable to opt for a plastic bag ,rather than to carry all your groceries in your arms). But, moving forward, I see little need for grocery stores to offer infinite stacks of the flimsy nuisances to customers. Thank you, plastic bags, but moving forward, what’s next for American grocery stores?
In light of environmental concerns increasingly receiving national (and international!) attention, a number of U.S. states are adopting policies intended to cut plastic waste from the source. Among these policies are the ever-controversial plastic bag bans and fees. This past semester, Emma and I, as the members of Precious Plastic DePauw’s Policy Group, focused our research on these restrictive policies. We asked ourselves a number of questions, ranging from Which strategies are most effective at decreasing the use of plastic bags?, to What arguments do opponents employ in countering bans and fees?, to Who will be most affected by these policies and what unintended consequences might rise as a result? Beyond finding the answers to these questions, Emma and I sought to understand what a tangible product of our research might look like. Looking to the example of DePauw’s 2009 water bottle sale ban, Emma and I spoke with a number of experts around campus to understand what it would take to implement a similar ban on plastic bags at DePauw’s retail locations (Cafe Allegro, Cafe Roy, and the C-Store).
In narrowing our attention to the issue of plastic bags at DePauw, Emma and I wondered whether the C-Store was comparable to conventional American grocery stores. We wanted to treat DePauw as a microcosm of communities affected by environmental policy. But, a major shortcoming of this model is that, obviously, the C-Store operates differently than a community. The student population on our campus isn’t exactly indicative of the state or country as a whole, seeing as swipes and flex dollars are included in our meal plans. That said, students are mostly likely able to afford the added fee of grocery bags. Additionally, students walk into the C-Store looking for a snack or meal, not to buy a week’s worth of groceries, as most shoppers at a conventional grocery store would. That said, a bag ban probably wouldn’t have as adverse of an impact on shoppers, as it might at Kroger or Walmart; students can easily carry their goods in their arms or in their backpacks. While the C-Store does have a tax on plastic bags included in the purchase total, the intention of the five-cent fee is entirely undermined by the location’s failure to remind students that they pay extra for each plastic bag. In this sense, the C-Store is comparable to a grocery store. But overall, I’m not entirely sure that a bag ban in the C-Store would be representative of larger-scale efforts in retail to curb plastic bag use.
While pulling back on the sale of single-use plastic grocery bags in retail would pose a number of challenges, namely economic, a bag ban on DePauw’s campus would really mostly become an issue of convenience. Would a bag ban undermine the convenience that the “C” in C-Store stands for? In my opinion, no. Students have the means to carry their own purchases, and would surely adapt fairly easily. I would anticipate that opponents to a proposed bag ban at DePauw would leverage arguments that we don’t use that many plastic bags comparatively, that if we want to eliminate plastic bags specifically, we should focus on the food’s packaging, as well. While these are, of course, legitimate arguments, I believe that a bag ban on our campus would be significant not only for the positive environmental impact, but for the message it sends on principle: we live in a society built on a culture of convenience and disposability, and even the small, intentional steps to diminish plastic waste are important just for this fact alone. That’s what I think is significant about Precious Plastic DePauw—while the workshop may not be able to reclaim all of the waste that our campus generates, the message it sends is what makes it so important and needed.
In keeping with the theme of Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” I thank plastic bags for the convenience that they offer, but still ask myself, “what’s next for our campus?” DePauw has the means and (at least from Emma and me!) motivation to bring a bag ban like this to life. We know what it would take and what it might look like, so moving forward, what’s next? My hope for Emma and me, as the Policy Group, as that our aspirations to help make DePauw even more sustainable will come to fruition in the coming years. With the help of our peers and DePauw’s faculty and staff, I believe that what’s next for our campus is to follow the example of other states and universities, to ban the bag.
תגובות