Paper AND Plastic: My Impressions on California's Latest Mistake

Salvete. So much to talk about, so little time for blogging. Might as well resume now.

So I was thinking about all the topics that I could write about: a defense of Bush's policies, an apology letter to Estonia, a talk about unions. The one that I decided to write first, though, not only holds the most weight but pertains the most to the near future. Shortly, the state of California is going to ban the use of plastic bags in grocery stores.

The sad thing is that a lot of people around me (or at least the more outspoken ones) love the idea! Plastic bags supposedly harm the environment, and plastic bags are flimsy anyway. Having had experience in grocery retail, I decided to throw in my two cents and explain why California should not outlaw plastic bags.

First and perhaps most relevant is the simple fact that plastic bags are easier to use. Sure, they might be flimsy, but they are more easily stored, transported, and stuffed than plastic bags. For an inexperienced bagger, the difference between paper and plastic may take a good few seconds, precious time in the grocery industry. If customers value their time more than the environment (and trust me, most of them do), plastic is the way to go. Plastic is more flexible than paper, allowing clerks to bag items of all shapes and sizes, from wine bottles to vegetable trays. Sure, plastic bags may be flimsier, but it is far easier to double-bag in plastic than it is to double-bag or perhaps even single-bag in paper, and two bags of plastic are at least as strong as one bag of paper.

Second and perhaps more importantly is the set of economic implications that plastic is going to bring. I don't know who supplies or who makes the bagging equipment, so for now I can assume the most logical choice: they're made in China, shipped across the Pacific, and supplied by an American company, which for the sake of familiarity we will call BagCo. BagCo will have to abandon a large percentage of its plastic bag industry and replace it with paper in order to compensate for this new regulation, so that will cost the company. It would also mean either a greater consumption of lumber (hurting the environment) or a greater consumption of recycled paper and/or wood products (hurting the company further). BagCo might have to downsize slightly to keep its profits steady, thus killing jobs. This scenario is not necessarily going to happen word for word, but it is at least an easily-foreseeable future that California would deal BagCo (if not the entire grocery industry) a severe blow. And that is a dangerous thought.

Of course, I can't change anything. I am in the vast minority, and the law is very likely going to pass. I would merely like my words to be remembered, if only to say "I told you so" in the future.