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Comment by thras | Hacker News Reader

The above poster has a valid point. He thinks that rather than making millions of single-purpose plastic bags and then going through an expensive process to clean up after them, we should instead not produce the plastic bags in the first place. For example, we could just keep canvas bags in our cars.

That the parent has been moderated down so much is troubling.

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"That the parent has been moderated down so much is troubling."

It's only troubling until you understand why.

No one would reasonably argue against the idea of producing something other than plastic in the first place.

The downmodding was most likely in response to the word "Western". Bash the U.S. (or anyone else, for that matter) and get downmodded. What's so troubling about that?

You can make a logical point on hn without insulting anyone else. The downmodding here is a clue to do just that.

Well, I questioned whether it's a Western phenomenon. I'm not trying to bash the U.S. I like being a citizen. I was actually trying to make an analogy to diet, health and medicine, where Western lifestyles have traditionally been found to be inferior to Eastern ones, because we, on average, eat crappy food, get diseases, then spend a bunch of money trying to fix the symptoms of those diseases.

It's hardly a western problem. I've been to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they have just as many plastic bags as we ("The West") do, if not more. And they're just as concerned about them as we are.

I just got back from HK, and while I was there I saw a bunch of advertisements warning that many stores will start charging HK$0.50 for plastic bags if you don't bring your own bag. Seems like a good move.

South Australia has banned most plastic bags now and we're Western. When I see someone calling something a Western problem I typically think they are the sort of person who decries Western culture but still indulges in its benefits. That or an angry third-world dictator.

When I was in Western Africa, I got a plastic bag for practically every single purchase I made, even in rural markets.

Yes, I'd prefer Eastern medicine, where I get diagnosed as chi-deficient and treated with the powdered testicles of some rare animal.

I'm only partly joking.

I agree, but you made his point much better than he did and without the insult. I think the point is to be more conscious of what we consume. However, plastic is not going away anytime soon so we should instead encourage people (not mandate!) to attempt to consume less of these materials and at the same time keep innovating on finding replacement materials as well as ways to properly dispose.

"we could just keep canvas bags in our cars."

Or on our bicycles, indeed. Or our trouser pockets as we walk down to the local corner-shop.

"Green" bags have become quite popular in Australia. I think they look pretty horrible [1] though, but even girls carry them around while shopping. And you do not need to keep it in your pocket, just hang it on your shoulder.

[1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/GreenBag...

They're also starting to do this in Canada as well, at least in Ontario. They're also now charging for plastic bags even though they're just as poor quality as before.

http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/1151 (I AM NOT PLASTIC bags!)

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