Vote on Plastic Bags Tuesday--Plastic Bags Kill Cattle

Vote tomorrow on the "county question" on the ballot, which asks if you support a 5 cent fee for each single-use plastic bag given out at groceries, drug stores and convenience stores in Mercer county. It's not binding--more like a poll conducted at the polls.

Interestingly, cities in Texas have been leaders on this issue, because the winds blow bags out into the countryside, the cattle eat the bags, and some of the cattle die. I learned this at an October "Climate Chat" organized by the Sierra Club, and an internet search bears it out. Here's a bit of insight coming from the plains of Texas:

"Hoss Cartwright didn't have to worry about plastic. The range was clean and no one was constructing a subdivision joining the Ponderosa. Today, much different, most people live within a mile of an open construction dumpster, trash pickup container or uncovered disposal site of plastic and litter. Add to that condition a strong wind and various plastics will float into your cattle grazing or growing areas. From bread wrappers hanging on a fence to grocery bags, hay bale wraps, weather balloons, party balloons, to pallet wrappings; some people even toss plastic bale strings on the ground. It is all lethal once inside a critter. Internally let a few hay strings wrap around a bread wrapper and you have a "deadly cow plug.'"

California's statewide ban of single-use plastic bags goes into effect next July. Interesting how the statewide ban came after 100 municipalities banned bags. In other words, municipal action can lead cumulatively to state action, which can lead to national action. Which is why it's so important that Princeton lead on climate change.

I reuse single-use plastic bags for many things--kitchen trash can liner, picking up after the dog, and they're great for transporting plants that have been dug up, since they conform to the shape of the rootball. But even while using reusable bags most of the time on trips to the grocery, we still somehow end up with more single-use plastic bags than we can make use of. A fee will serve to prompt everyone to remember to actually use those reusable bags sitting in the car trunk. And for anyone who really likes the single use bags for some reason, most can be used multiple times for groceries.