Was plastic bag ban good for the environment?

I care deeply about the environment, so I was overjoyed when Thurston County banned plastic bags from stores in 2014. I was proud of our city for being a good example, and was a huge supporter.

But, as time passed, I started to see the effects of this ordinance and had began to worry that while we’ve tried to do the right thing, we may have harmed the earth instead of helping it. Paper bags are pretty bad, after all. Every year millions of trees get cut down (sometimes clear-cut, and with fossil-fueled machinery), tons of clean water is used, just to make the bags, along with the use of harmful chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide, to recycle them.

In addition, paper bags are difficult to reuse. The handles usually fall off, and rain (which Olympia get’s so often) causes them to brake down; I end up disposing of them after the first use. Plastic bags, on the other hand, I’m able to save.

I urge the people of Thurston County to rethink this. With global warming, it’s more urgent than ever to help the Earth, so a better solution should be found. Maybe we should consider removing the ban, while increasing the cost of buying plastic bags in stores, to encourage shoppers to bring reusable bags. I’m not sure if consumers would appreciate this — I’m just a seventh grader and have minimal experience with shopping — but I know something needs to be done.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Was plastic bag ban good for the environment?."