More on Plastic

A reader commented on our story "Charging for Plastic," page 1, August 29:

They could charge a buck a bag and it would solve nothing. How do you get rid of your trash? You can't throw it - or even carry it - loose to a trash can, or to a garbage compactor chute.

And can you collect it for disposal in, say, your own kitchen? Most people use plastic bags.

I'm one of those who recycles grocery bags as garbage bags. If I don't have the "free" plastic bags from the grocery, I'll simply buy a box of Hefty or similar bags - at the grocery - and dispose of my garbage with those. And New York will still be disposing of as many plastic bags as ever. Only the plastic manufacturers and the retail outlets that sell plastic bags will profit.

- Peter Hochstein