The bras I chose were on small plastic and metal hangers
rather than in packages. As I handed them to the cashier, I said, “I don’t need
the hangers—you can keep them for reuse.” She refused to do so, saying that
larger plastic hangers can be recycled, but these smaller ones cannot. I
indignantly pointed out that this was a waste of plastic and metal. The clerk
rolled her eyes—I was obviously being one of those obnoxious customers clerks dread—and
told me to just throw them out if I didn’t want them. Muttering “That’s not the
point!” I took the hangers with me and left the store. I certainly don’t hang
bras in a closet, and doubt that any other woman does. (Well, maybe an
elaborate bustier deserves its own hanger.) So, these hangers will end up in my
own trash bin.
There must have been several hundred bras in that store,
each one on one of those hangers that will be thrown in the trash. How many
stores are doing the same thing? What a waste! And how much pollution they will
cause! It’s not as if the hangers are necessary—a bra can be packaged in a bag
that uses very little paper or plastic. Better yet, hangers can be used for
displaying merchandise, but the store can keep them for reuse.
My ire in this case was directed at one Target, but that
particular store is only one of many across the country, and Target is only one
of the big-box stores with similar wasteful practices. Walmart, K-Mart, and
others all do it. Sears, Macy’s, and Penney’s put clothing and other purchased items
in huge plastic bags. Supermarkets such as Safeway and Food4Less almost seem to
make a point of putting only one or two items in each plastic bag; I have seen some customers leave with what looked like hundreds of plastic bags in their
shopping carts.
We customers are at fault almost as much as the stores are.
Only a few of us carry reusable bags, though it is easy to do. Like me, some
customers allow themselves to be coerced into accepting hangers or other
wasteful packaging rather than vociferously objecting to it. Clerks sometimes
add to the problem, too. Many of them seem annoyed if they must interrupt their
robot-like filling of plastic bags to use our reusable bags instead.
Recently a bill banning plastic bags was introduced in the
California legislature, but it failed to pass. As a result, the problem will
continue in this beautiful state that thrives on tourism and prides itself on
environmental awareness. Except for stores in the few cities that have wisely
banned plastic bags, supermarkets and other stores in California will continue this
wasteful, polluting practice. A few of the bags will be usefully reused in
homes; some may be returned to stores for recycling; most will end up in landfills
or waterways. Birds and mammals may choke on them or be asphyxiated by them. Roadsides
and picnic areas will be made ugly.
Being an RVer, I see some of this wastefulness in
campgrounds, but think having to live in a small space actually encourages conservation.
We campers are less likely to load our grocery carts with unneeded items, and
to accept extra packaging, than those having lots of storage space at home. In
some campgrounds we even have to “pack it in, pack it out,” which truly
discourages schlepping a lot of extra items around with us. Most of us care
deeply about preserving the natural environment, because we have made an effort
to spend time in the national parks or other areas for aesthetic and spiritual reasons.
With any luck our concern will have some impact, and our attitudes will prove
contagious.
