Congratulations: the world will now end 13 years from now, not 12

Scavanging at Tod’s Point

A year after enactment, Greenwich’s plastic bag ordinance is labelled a success. Not in reducing plastic waste, mind you: 90% of that comes from third-world countries, who are unlikely to take their lessons from tony towns like Greenwich, but in achieving feel-goody sentiments among some Greenwich shoppers and annoying and inconveniencing everyone.

“Of course it’s a meaningless gesture”, Patricia Sesto, the town’s director of environmental affairs (might have) told FWIW — “good citizens don’t toss trash on the street, and Greenwich is mostly comprised of good citizens, so we don’t have plastic bags fluttering about, but it is about training the people to obey our edicts. Next target: Whole Foods, which has been double-bagging paper bags so that heavy objects don’t burst free. We want these consumers to be inconvenienced — they’ll ultimately feel so much more morally justified, and we can encourage that with new, even more ridiculous laws, and they’ll thank us for them.”