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The use of plastic bags in supermarkets is unnecessary and wasteful. The amount of petroleum required to produce such a product outweighs the benefits. For starters, it is much more practical to put grocery items in paper sacks. Case in point: Suppose your cupboard and refrigerator are nearly empty and you need to do some serious shopping. This could cost a couple of hundred dollars or more. Your cart will be filled to the top; maybe even higher. Would you rather have 4 or 5 paper sacks to carry into the house or 32 plastic bags? I fail to understand why such bags have become popular to carry grocery items. If you're lucky, maybe two items will fit into them. Paper sacks were used exclusively for decades, and they make far more sense. Paper can be recycled over and over again. Plastic can be recycled as well, but how many people think to do this with plastic bags? When I take the trash out on Thursdays, I see my neighbors recycling soda bottles, milk jugs, and the occasional empty laundry detergent container. Conversely, a used plastic bag will most likely function as a trash-can liner in the bathroom once and then be thrown away, where it will spend the next few centuries slowly decomposing in a landfill. And at the same time, precious oil will be depleted faster. Have I missed anything? Rather than imposing a charge on plastic bags, supermarkets should simply stop using them and go back to paper.

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