"PLASTIC GETTING A BAD WRAP AGAIN"

Witches Britches, Modern Tumbleweed or White Pollution, no matter what you call it, Loblaws will be charging a nickel for each with partial proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund-Canada starting today.

I just find it rather surprising that it would take the grocery giant so long to jump on the 'charge-per-bag' bandwagon considering they own Fortinos, Zehrs and No Frills which have been successfully doing this for years. It's also quite funny how they won't reveal just how much of the 'partial' in the proceeds will actually be donated until April.

According to an article in the Toronto Star, it cautioned that proceeds would be decreased due to spending on publicity, staff training and checkout redesign to accommodate reusable bags. What's up with that? As we all know any time something is introduced to the consumer a domino affect occurs.

At the risk of sounding anti-environmentally friendly (and no disrespect to any environmental organizations) by this next statement. I feel it's crucial that plastic continues thrive in our modern day society. Yes, you read that correctly. My green bin depends upon it! What else would I line the inside of it with? But please don't get me wrong. I've been trying to do my part to help the environment for years by recycling and reusing plastic bags every time I go grocery shopping. I'll admit using Zellers, Home Depot bags (or whatever chain uses them without charging) at Food Basics takes a little getting used to at first. But when you see just how cost efficient 'reusing' is, it not only benefits the environment but your wallet too.

If the 'P' word is such a taboo then what ever to happened to going back to basics? The good old 'paper bag' that's definitely biodegradable. And now with that statement I feel I've run the risk of angering tree-huggers everywhere who might be reading this article. Don't you see? You just can't win. There is no solution without either angering environmentalist, loss of revenue for corporations or disrupting daily life as we know it. There is no simple solution as far as I'm concerned nor will there ever be.

And after all that, I'm exhausted and hungry. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich sounds real good about now. Now there's something that doesn't need to be recycled!