Basalt leads the war on plastic

Dear Editor:

The best front-page headline in years! Some excellent, heart-warming news on the front page of the good ol’ Aspen Times that everyone should wrap their arms around!

“Basalt claims bagging rights …” Way to go, Basalt Town Council, on taking a giant step towards total excellence! Charging customers 20 cents per bag (either paper or plastic) at the markets will not only force our valley residents out of sheer laziness, it will also help our local (Basalt only, for now … hint, hint!) markets save a ton of money by offsetting the costs associated with single-use “throwaway” plastic and paper bags.

Pssst … the recycling of plastic bags that temporarily makes you feel better about using them is largely a hoax. The majority of those plastic bags never make it back into new plastics, not to mention the added energy required to turn them into new plastics.

I am sure that this fee will immediately raise “our collective conscience” here in our precious valley, as a small price like 20 cents is just enough to force any enlightened shopper into doing the right thing – bringing their own bags.

I cannot tell you how delighted I am by this initiative, and I can’t wait for Aspen City Council to follow suit!

Hey, Clark’s Market, free advertising on the front page of the good ol’ Aspen Times for being the first Aspen market to sign on. Go ahead, be heroic and beat the City Council to the decision! It shouldn’t take a government initiative to take this huge step towards reducing our dependence on single-use plastics and paper. It should, on the contrary, come to us very naturally!

All best and way to go, Basalt! You lead a fine example and I applaud this huge news!

Clayton Dahlman

Aspen