Politicians' Plastic Pothering

The old acronym B.Y.O.B. is about to take on a new meaning in Toronto as it becomes the latest in a growing list of cities to ban the sale or dispensing of single use plastic bags.

Surprising no one, environmentalists applauded the move citing a mind-numbing hodegepodge of statistics regarding the amount of waste that will be spared from landfill sites. Huh? Why do politicians convince us to spend tens of millions of dollars on recycling programs only to then ban items that are supposed to be recyclable? Yes, I well aware that not all plastic bags can be recycled, but Toronto's ban (similar to those in L.A., Seattle, and San Francisco) affects all plastic bags including those advertised as compostable, biodegradable, or photodegradable.

It ain't easy being plastic these days.

What's more is I'm not convinced that plastic bags occupy that much space in landfill sites to begin with. I can't recall ever throwing an empty bag in the garbage around our house. Sure, they'll eventually make their way there, but usually they would have been used more than once before that occurs, crippling the "single use" argument. There are several uses for plastic bags beyond their primary function of carting groceries from your car to your kitchen and I doubt there are many who simply discard them collectively once the groceries are tidily put away. And even if everyone of us did just that, how much space in the landfill are we talking about? Considering I can easily compact ten bags in the palm of my hand, I'll surmise that the number of bags my family disposes of on an annual basis would occupy less space than hundreds of other items that regularly find their way into landfill sites.

Common sense never seems to prevail in the political arena and I'm sure all cities will eventually impose similar bans. I doubt I'll miss the plastic bag when it's gone, as there are far greater demons to slay at the grocery store, but it's a shame that the real issues of our time aren't given the due consideration they deserve by our dithering politicians.

Plastic bags are not the problem; municipal governments so big that they find the time to debate these minutiae are.

The Only Game In Town

I don't shop at the drug mart down the street from our house anymore. I used to frequent it, as I'm big on supporting local merchants.  That all changed a year ago, however, when I showed up at five to ten one evening to find the door locked. I took a step back, noticed the sign on the door that indicated they were open until 10pm, glanced at my watch that showed it was still five minutes before closing, and tapped on the glass. A young clerk appeared on the other side of the glass with a smug look on her face.  I pointed to my watch. She pointed to hers and shrugged. I haven't returned, nor will I, preferring to spend my money elsewhere.

This is what I like to call, "Voting with your feet". We can do it in a competitive, free-market society because there is always some place else to take our business and those who will work hard to earn it. When we vote with our feet, we force those who serve us and sell to us to stay sharp and competitive. Indeed, over the last ten years everything from computers to long distance phone calls have become better and cheaper due to market competition.

This applies to nearly everything. Those who cannot stay competitive, overcharge for services, or close when they shouldn't be (like my drug mart friends above) don't stay in business very long these days because they're not the only game in town.

But do you know who can consistently provide poor service, shrug, and get away with it? Governments. At all levels. In all shapes and sizes.  Of course, these days that size is usually large. Too large. Moreover, not only has service worsened over the years, but we've also paid more for it through higher taxes.

Remember when public servants served the public? There was a time when working in the public sector meant that you might not be highly paid, but your job was fairly secure with decent benefits, or the pay was good, but the job would was not guaranteed or contractual. These days, however, public sector employees are among the highest paid with jobs for life and benefits second-to-none. The stereotype of a government worker as inert and shiftless with a disinclination towards action having 6 weeks vacation and 20 "sick" days and a guaranteed pension is generally regarded as the status quo nowadays.

Why do we stand for it?  While other sectors of the economy have contracted,  being forced through market pressure to provide more for less, government has swelled, heading in the opposite direction. Only with the government do we continuously get poorer service for a higher price. Until the day that changes, we will continue on the path to the abyss buried under a multi-trillion-dollar debt avalanche.

May you teach your children well.