We still should deal with bag problem

Regarding Mr. Nava's guest view, "Bag bans doing more harm than good":

I agree that plastic bags by weight are a very small problem in landfills. But, that doesn't mean that they aren't a problem. Less than 15 percent of the trillion plastic bags used a year worldwide are recycled and I've spotted a few of the rest.

Mr. Nava has not seen all my photos of Countryside Landfill in Grayslake on a windy day with thousands of bags blowing around getting caught in trees and bushes near the Metra Station.

I bet he hasn't been to a turtle hospital to visit a turtle that just got operated on to remove a plastic bag stuck in its intestine.

I agree that paper bags are not the solution either, because they have environmental issues too and they are more expensive for stores to buy. I also know that the new bans in Chicago and Hawaii have some retailers giving out free thicker plastic bags and calling them reusable. The unintended consequence of even more plastic being produced for these bags is horrible.

That is on the retailer trying to get around the bans. Why can't retailers do the right thing and not give out free bags? Aldi doesn't give out bags and saves money by not buying bags.

Just because you think plastic bags are a small problem, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be fixed. It's such an easy solution. Stop giving them out for free and stop taking them.

We lived without them before, I think we can do it again. I also believe it's about time we rethink making something that just gets used for about 15 minutes, gets tossed in the trash and sticks around forever. Aren't we better than that? Maybe not, convenience just for convenience is the American way.

Abby Goldberg

Grayslake