Nomination for the New West Virginia State Bird?

Anonymous made this comment on my posting about the plastic bags that are blowing all over huntington:

"Trash in trees is such a widespread problem in Hawaii that the locals call the plastic bag the "State Bird." Same goes for West Virginia, in my opinion. Aldi's is a local market that charges for their bags - plastic or paper. I think other stores should follow their example. As for the awful messes at the entrance/exits to our fair city - I agree they are a disgrace. List among them the cigarette butt carpet at the West End bridge offramp onto Washington Avenue. Why doesn't the City Council step up to the plate on these issues? "

10:37 AM, April 04, 2007

Imagine a world without plastic shopping bags. It could be the future, according to one environmental website. There is a growing international movement to ban or discourage the use of plastic bags because of their environmental effects. Countries from Ireland to Australia are cracking down on the bags and action is beginning to stir in the United States.

The plastic shopping bag, so handy for everything from toting groceries to disposing of doggie doo, may be a victim of its own success. Although plastic bags didn't come into widespread use until the early 1980s, environmental groups estimate that 500 billion to 1 trillion of the bags are now used worldwide every year.

Critics of the bags say they use up natural resources, consume energy to manufacture, create litter, choke marine life and add to landfill waste.

Should we ban them in the City of Huntington and Cabell County? What do you think?

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