For information about plastic bags and the environment as well as links to studies on their impact; surveys on plastic bags knowledge; and environmental shopping strategies, please visit…

www.thetruthaboutplasticbags.com

This is probably obvious, but the above-linked website is maintained by the world's largest manufacturer of plastic bags. If a Hilex spokesperson is still trolling around on here, perhaps you can address why your site does not mention the North Pacific Gyre.

Whenever I see platic bags floating around outside, I pick them up and dispose of them properly -- the way I was taught (educated) to do so. What I see more of than platic bags is cigarette butts.

What about paper bags? We are recycling paper so there is no need to cut down trees for it. Isn't there a surplus of recyclables now that the economy is down?

What about all the other items that end up in the landfill and pollute the environment? What about all those tubes of toothpaste and plastic containers that shampoos, vitamins and a whole list of others products come in? How long are they going to stay in the landfills? Or styrofoam for that matter?

As usual this tax is about drumming up more money instead of addressing the root cause. We have to come up with better methods for our garbage. We build space stations for crying out loud, but we can't even come up with viable ideas for all the waste we produce.

Sue i agree with you in some ways... but just think about how many more plastic bags you use than shampoo containers, every time you go to the store you get a ton of bags and many people do nothing with them. You are right this certainly will not solve the problem but its a good start. This is how the green movement will work one ruling after another until we can hopefully fix the problem.