Virginian-Pilot hypocrisy in the bag
By Brian Kirwin | Thursday, December 9th, 2010 | PolicyThe Virginian-Pilot has found something else to ban, and it ain’t earmarks.
Plastic bags.
a ban would benefit wildlife and marine life, particularly sea turtles, that eat or become entangled in the plastic.
Shifting from plastic bags would also reduce the energy consumed to produce the bags, conserve space in expensive and overburdened landfills, where plastic takes decades to degrade, if it ever does.
Virginia lawmakers have shown no inclination to follow the lead of North Carolina and others on this issue. But if Virginians as diverse as environmentalists, farmers and advocates for wildlife and beautification speak up, perhaps there’s hope the politicians will eventually listen.
Environmentalists, farmers and beautification folks is a diverse group? Don’t even get me started on that.
But brilliance is found in the “comments” section of this misguided editorial.
“Seven days a week, 365 days a year, my Virginian-Pilot arrives on my porch in a plastic bag.” Donald S. Vtipil, Norfolk, VA
Bravo, Donald!
If the Pilot thinks plastic bags are such a menace, you’d think they’d stop using them.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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Comments
14 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot hypocrisy in the bag"
Wait a minute… Wasn’t the shift to plastic brought by the tree huggers, because paper was causing deforestation or some such nonsense? Plastic was recyclable or some such drivel, and people would recycle in droves to save the planet, or some such poppycock.
The laws of unintended consequences…
Yes, Linda, you are right! And it remains true today, that on balance, plastic bags are MORE environmentally friendly than paper. It is a balance of factors, with biodegradability weighing towards paper, but everything else–energy consumption, water consumption, and pollutants released in initial production and recycling, and if not recycled, landfill space taken up–all weighing towards plastic as an environmentally superior option. Plus–don’t get me started on all the times my groceries have broken through the bottom of the paper bag forcing me to throw them away and buy new ones!
Of course, up here in Northern Virginia, many communities incinerate their garbage for green power, so it makes no difference that paper is more biodegradable.
Linda,
I had to laugh out loud when I read your comment about the Law of Unintended Consequences. Several years ago, Science magazine had a feature article on the subject after MacDonalds switched from styrofoam cartons to paper cartons coated with plastic. It turns out that while styrofoam is less biodegradable than paper, it is much more environmentally friendly in its total lifecycle. Paper takes more energy to produce, has more toxic chemical by-products, and must be reinforced with plastic to keep the carton from falling apart–something that gives the discarded carton almost the same biodegradability as styrofoam.
This editorial in the V-P only goes to show that newspapers really do have a firewall between their editorial staff and the rest of the newspaper operations, that is if having your head up your butt can be considered a firewall.
I prefer paper. Sealife doesn’t die or become injured if a paper bag ends up in the ocean.
And isn’t plastic a petroleum based product?
Not always Linda.. http://www.biobagusa.com/
The pilot’s plastic bags are reusable to pick up doggy doo-doo. So they have crap in them when they arrive and they can be refilled. I wonder when it smells worse.
Yet another reason why the daily press is the newspaper of record in hampton roads!
kingsmoothie,
RAOTFLMAO!
If you keep this up, you’ll put Brian Kirwin out of a job.
Of course, limousine liberals never live by the same rules they try to impose on others.
James, those biodegradable plastic bags not the norm for general everyday use. Have you seen them in your local grocery store? And they are not the the bags I was referring to.
J.R.,
I have had a distinct dislike for the Pilot for years. So much so, that I canceled my home delivery over 25 years ago. If there was something I wanted, I would buy an individual copy from the machine. Haven’t bought one in 10 years….
With the prevalence of online news and 24 hour cable news channels, papers have become passe.
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I saved on both paper and plastic pollution, not to mention mind pollution, when I stopped subscribing to the Virginian Pravda. Has anyone else noticed how many of the advertisement inserts that used to come in the paper now arrive by mail?
John, I haven’t gotten the paper in 25 years, but get the ad inserts in the mail. Advertisers want to reach consumers, and they realized with newspaper subscriptions declining, they were better off to pay postage and get their ads in mailboxes. They reach more people that way. On my street, there are 24 houses, but only 1 subscribes to the paper. All of them get mail. Better odds.
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