Dear editor:
Poor Dave Simpson. If the plastic bag ban happens in Cheyenne, he will spend 7 cents per bag to buy them when he forgets to bring bags from home. On the other hand, the rest of us will be spared the sight of them hanging from the barbs of our fences.
I grew up in a conservative Wyoming family, where we were taught to line our trash cans with paper, because like most ranch families, we disposed of garbage on our ranches in pits dug for that purpose. We were very careful about waste, something we knew was not good for the earth we depended upon to earn our living.
Single use plastic use is not an "us vs. them" issue. Caring for Mother Earth is good for everyone, and it's easy and feels good.
As a matter of fact, eliminating plastic from our landscape feels so good to me that I happily pledge to pay for Mr Simpson's plastic bags for the rest of his life so that the rest of us can have that gentle 7 cent reminder to bring bags from home.
We live in frightening times. It is tempting to believe good and evil are as easily recognizable as Mr. Simpson would have us believe: bad people wear Birkenstocks, have pointy heads, and live in tents (or allow others to do so) on the streets.
Also, they come from someplace else and now that they are here, they want to push their crazy ideas on good old-fashioned Wyoming people.
Even though I am a Wyoming native and (in my opinion) a good person, I love the idea of banning plastic bags in my town, even though I too (sometimes forgetful or unprepared) occasionally would have to pay for bags.
Taking care of our beautiful state by keeping it clean makes sense to me and I'm happy to do it. Cheers to the Cheyenne City Council for having the courage to suggest this, even if it doesn't pass. I hope other communities will give it a try too.
Sincerely,
Carol Bell
Cody, WY
