Bring your own bag for economy, environment

The plastic-bag ban has my support for both economic and environmental reasons. [“Plastic-bag ban may be on the way,” page one, Nov. 14.]

Plastic bags are difficult and expensive to recycle; they clog machines and sell for less than the labor used to sort and shred them, if they sell at all.

Plastic bags are made from petroleum, most of which we import from outside of the U.S.

Plastic bags are toxic to marine and terrestrial life, and they kill anything that mistakenly consumes them.

The American Chemistry Council spent $1.4 million to defeat the bag fee here in Seattle in 2008. They didn’t do it because they care about your freedom to put your dog’s [poop] in one of their bags; they did it because when it comes to plastic bags, they reap the profits and taxpayers pay the price. Tell big plastic to go the way of lead paint, DDT and asbestos. Bring your own bag.

— Abigail McCarthy, Seattle