San Jose single-use plastic bag ban a step in the right direction

In society today, one of the earliest lessons taught to children is the importance of conservation.

Elementary school science classes preach the importance of turning off the tap when brushing teeth and taking shorter showers to save water.

Now the city of San Jose has taken the idea of conserving natural resources one step further. As of Jan. 1, the city implemented a ban on single-use plastic bags for most retailers, excluding non-profit organizations and restaurants, and required customers to pay for paper bags. Although this change may initially be a nuisance for some consumers and vendors, it is justified by the long-term benefit for the environment.

The Internet, TV and radio are constantly abuzz with new developments on the environment, and the effects human beings are causing on the planet: the heavy smog in the atmosphere, global warming and the destruction of forests and their wildlife paint a grim picture. Plastic bags are polluting oceans with litter that can take hundreds of years to decompose, even then still leaving toxins behind.

Plastic bags are not even a small problem. According to the National Geographic, the number of bags used per year, across the world, ranges from 500 billion to 1 trillion. So while one ban may not solve all of these problems, it is certainly a good start.

The conservation achieved by the introduction of the ban could be exponential. With no more plastic bags being used in San Jose stores, the heavy environmental cost of plastic bags could be greatly relieved. As more customers begin to use reusable bags, huge amounts of resources used to produce both plastic and paper bags will be conserved. As consumers become accustomed to bringing their reusable bags along with them on trips to the store, things will quickly become routine and easier than ever.

Yet for a nation that prides itself on its efforts to be green and environmentally friendly, this change has brought more than its fair share of complaining. People seem to be upset about everything: from the rule itself to the effects it has on customers to the few extra dollars it may cost them to purchase paper or reusable bags at checkout.

Others think not providing customers the opportunity to use plastic bags violates their rights, yet how is this issue any different than the government making it illegal to sell cigarettes to minors? Authority figures are merely creating a law, or in this case ban, that is in the best interests of the population and environment in the long term.

It seems selfish to claim to be angry about saving our planet, about conserving natural resources and about trying to clean up the environment for posterity. So much could be accomplished if only society could put these small inconveniences behind them and see that what we are working for is part of the big picture, something far more important than the few cents or minutes this new law might cost them.