Why the Trendy Thing is Seldom the Right Thing

Let’s take plastic bags, for example. The so-called single use plastic bag (which often isn’t) is LESS disruptive in the environment than many of the alternatives that are pushed by the fervently pro-Green advocates. City Journal has an article about it that neatly skewers the Meant-to-be-Holier-Than-Thou Crowd, and explains, in simple terms, why their arguments are wrong.

In my house, the plastic bags serve as:

• Trash can liners, in the bathroom, and in the office
• Tote bags for meals on the go
• A lint bag for the dryer that corrals it until I add it to the garbage
• A place to put my wet bathing suit and towel when I go swimming
• A place to put damp items on, so the car seats or floors don’t get wet – boots, coats, gloves
• An emergency ‘rainhat’ to save my hair from getting drenched
• A dog-doo-doo bag (my daughter had used a roll of bags, but this is not only easier, but saves using one-time bags for that purpose)

I came up with those uses in less than 10 minutes (I could do more if I had more time)

Plastics have their uses. Less harmful than broken glass, lighter weight than other materials, a convenient way to move mass quantities of fresh water in emergencies, and a practical alternative to carrying around items (metal straws, silverware, or heavier hiking gear) that are both more expensive, and – if lost – more damaging to the environment.

I’ve been known to use styro or paper cups for starting seed – cups can be reused for that purpose. A coffee cup with a lid, with holes poked into it, can be used to distribute seed in a garden. A cup can be cut into strips, and used to as a plant marker.

And, despite all that, kids in schools are still hounded to lecture their families about the horrors of plastics, and how they MUST spend more money for “proper” solutions to their waste.

Too many families have abdicated their responsibility for moral/character education to teachers and the schools. Too many schools believe it is their right to override parental decisions, and impose their own moral framework on their unsuspecting students. Use of the word “Fuck” is not punished, but ANY use of words that distinguish between people that relates to size, age, ethnicity, or sex are treated worse than those words that would have gotten your mouth washed out with soap, back in the day.

YOUR presumed-privileged child had BETTER watch what they say; presumed-downtrodden people are free to abuse and insult YOUR child with impunity.

Just another reason to keep your kids out of government schools.