When a new business comes to town, it is important to consider the effect that its services and products will have on the surrounding community.
Giant Eagle, the supermarket chain in construction just across the street from Capital’s main campus, is sure to have a large effect both on campus and Main Street.
In response to the new shopping center, Harvey Wasserman, a member of the history department, presented a plan to the Bexley City Council to ban plastic bags at the new store.
“[Plastic bags] aren’t biodegradable at all, and they can’t really be meaningfully recycled,” Wasserman said. “They reflect a continued disregard for the sanctity of the planet and for our survival.”
Plastic bags are harmful to the environment and better options exist that many stores aren’t currently using to their full potential, Wasserman said. This is a particular worry for Capital because of the potential for “plastics bags flying around Capital’s campus.”
That is why he believes it is important that not only members of the Bexley community care about this issue but also Capital students.
Wasserman said that, “It’d be a great thing for Capital to take on,” in terms of student lobbying and involvement for this issue that hasn’t seen much public action.
Many other cities have created plastic bag bans, fees, or taxes to reduce the environmental strain. Wasserman said that these policies have been successful in reducing plastic bag waste.
“Sooner or later it will happen [in Bexley]. It’s an inevitable thing that these bags will be banned… so why don’t we get ahead of it,” Wasserman said.
However, some argue that plastic bag bans can result in loss of jobs and an increase in consumer prices.
Wasserman said that these claims are “a load of crap.” According to Wasserman, those harms are unsubstantiated and obviously outweighed by the rewards that plastic bag bans have on the world as a whole.
Along with pushing for a Bexley-wide plastic bag ban, Wasserman also encourages other energy efficient changes to be made on Capital’s campus, including the addition of more LED lights, solar panels, and south facing windows, to maximize efficiency and reduce waste.
