'The scourge of plastic'

Little by little, people are waking up to the scourge of plastics on our world.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and other reliable sources, by 2050 there will be more plastic in our oceans by weight than fish.
Since we depend on our oceans for survival, principally for the oxygen they give us, it is obvious that we must begin curtailing plastic usage and the sooner the better.
If a town or county or state implements a new policy to reduce plastic bag usage, it is in response to the silent majority of its citizens who realize that without a planet the concept of convenience is moot.
Of the many proposals put forth by the New York State Plastic Bag Task Force, the option of a small fee on all carry out bags – whether the fee goes to the government or the shopkeeper – is the option that most respects the freedom of the consumer.
The person who needs a few bags for his garbage or kitty litter should be willing to pay a nickel for each one.
But grossly wasteful practices, such as double bagging or only partially filling a bag, will be vastly curtailed.
When people get something for free they tend to waste it; when we have to pay for something, even a very small amount, we are much more careful with it. That is just human nature.
Has there ever been such a thing as a "free plastic bag" anyway?
First, we pay for the store's overhead bag expenses in whatever we buy.
Second, we pay again in rising landfill costs when these bags have to be disposed of.
Should a bag clog a storm drain and contribute to flooding our village, how much would that cost?
Finally, we pay much more dearly in the cost of the deteriorating health of our planet and even our own health, since plastic particles in our bodies have serious health effects, and these particles have been found to be present in 95 percent of the world population today.
I urge everyone who is concerned about public policies on carry-out bags to keep this in proper perspective. All over the world fees on bags have proven very effective. At worst we would have to lay out a few nickels a couple of times until we got into the habit of bringing our own bags.
First and foremost, we have to do whatever is necessary to preserve the only home we have.
Julia Calderon
Warwick