Plastic
Bag Ban Heats Up
(from Channel 8 New Haven Web
Site)
Hartford (WTNH) _ State lawmakers are considering doing away with
plastic bags but the idea has supermarkets balking.
Before 15-year-old Emily Rintoul could begin Bach on her instrument,
she had a performance of sorts to attend to at the state Capitol.
"It's action," Rintoul says. "It's a great sense
of belief, being able say -- I've done what I can do."
Rintoul testified in Hartford on Monday to back a proposed bill
that would ban the use of plastic bags that shoppers use to haul
groceries and other retail items.
"I've been concerned with the environment for a long time
and plastic bags seem like a big threat," Rintoul says. "This
seems like a law that could get passed well and have a good effect
for not much on money costs."
It's not hard to find bags littering roadways no matter where you
go, but some feel there is a better answer than an outright bag
embargo.
"We think there has to be a more focused approach towards
what is recyclable and what is reusable," Stan Sorkin, of the
Connecticut Food Association, notes. "Plastic bags are recyclable
and reusable."
Sorkin believes a recycling law -- paper or plastic -- might be
a better answer. "We have to increase our educational efforts,"
Sorkin says. "I think we have to take a fair look at the issue
to come up with a fair solution."
But, changing behavior can take some practice. Rintoul knows that
all too well, but understands practice does make perfect. "I
think it will take a bit of work."
