Humanity has seriously changed the planet, for the worse. Fortunately, people seem to be making an effort to change. Starbucks is reducing its use of straws, people bring reusable water bottles everywhere, and more and more stores market reusable bags now. All of these changes are great but are not affecting Lynbrook. For example, Starbucks’ iced cups are still plastic, kids buy plastic-wrapped food for lunch, and, as of now, the stores are still giving out plastic bags.

Plastic bags are everywhere.  According to The World Counts article (theworldcounts.com) entitled, “Plastic Bags Used per Year,” each person uses over 700 plastic bags a year on average, and each bag can take 500 years to break down. From delivering newspapers, picking up dog waste, and most commonly, carrying groceries, plastic is convenient, no two ways about it. With plastic’s cheap, single use, and light material, how can this issue be combated? The idea of taxing plastic bags is not new. California all out banned plastic bags back in 2016; it is no longer alone. The real questions are, how successful have past bans been, and what can be expected of such a ban in Lynbrook?

According to the website “sanjoseca.gov,” plastic bans have been a huge success. San Jose, California’s ban became effective Jan. 1, 2012. Since then, the city reported to have found over 75% less plastic bags in bodies of water and 69% less in drain inlets.  The evidence seems to point to taxes and bans as an effective strategy. But there is one thing to remember: These strategies are not being implemented in Lynbrook.

Ben Ferrante, door monitor, said “A dime or a nickel tax would not dissuade me from using plastic if the alternative was walking back to the car to retrieve reusable bags. Instead, a tax would need to be rather high, say fifty cents.” This is an opinion that is shared by many. Freshman Nick Tarco said, “The tax would persuade me to use reusable bags.”

A plastic tax is not the final solution; however, many people may not even notice it. School Media Specialist Maureen Bertolini thinks that Lynbrook should move away from plastic bags altogether. Bertolini states, “It is just a habit that we have to get used to.” Thus, small changes towards the goal of eliminating plastic use are needed.

Whether or not a plastic tax is worth it comes down to what one prioritizes. The environment is an important issue that will affect all our futures, so reducing plastic waste should be implemented.