I have memories from my childhood of my parents carrying in the groceries in paper bags. The groceries always came home in these paper bags and then, almost overnight, the paper bags disappeared.
Plastic bags became the norm. The economy grocery stores eventually started charging us 5¢ a plastic bag, but there were lots of plastic bags and no paper ones. For awhile, I missed the paper bags, but then I forgot about them.
Now comes word that the LCBO is phasing out plastic shopping bags at its retail outlets.
The plastic bag ban is part of a growing environmental movement that began in March 2007 when San Francisco became the first North American city to ban non-recyclable plastic bags made from petroleum products.
The Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids followed suit later that month, becoming the first Canadian municipality to block retailers from selling or distributing plastic bags.
Plastic bags dissolve over 1,000 years, according to the environmental research group Worldwatch Institute. The group says consumers around the globe dispose of 500 billion plastic sacs every year.
One day we'll talk about plastic bags the way I just reminisced about paper ones. It's all about environmentally friendly reusable bags. Once we get rid of these damns plastic bags we'll ban hand guns, hand gun clubs and cellphones while driving.
