I have to admit that I am sick and tired of the increasing push to eliminate plastic bags, along with other things such as Styrofoam containers. Do these people really believe by adding the cost of a nickel per plastic bag or, in some cases, paper bags as well, that people will no longer discard them carelessly instead of disposing of them properly?

I will state that the largest amount of trash on my property consists of cans and bottles that already have a nickel deposit placed on them. Oh, I won’t complain because I receive a nickel for each one of those that I recycle. The second largest amount of trash comes from fast-food businesses and consists of both paper and Styrofoam coffee cups.

The point I have to make is that instead of businesses retaining the 5-cent cost of customers using plastic bags, maybe that money should be sent to schools in order to improve education standards.

The United States consistently falls behind many countries, including those of the Third World, in education so I can truly understand why our citizens throw away a nickel at a time and have no clue as to how much money they throw away. If you think I am wrong, I am real good at observing and watch on a daily basis as customers purchase meals with drinks that require a deposit and leave that container in the store when they leave. It might not seem like much but my point here is that placing the cost of a nickel on a plastic bag is not making a huge difference at all. But then again, shouldn’t we be punishing those who cause litter instead of everyone else?

I wish I didn’t have to switch to the councilors of the town of Windham but it is obvious that most of them can’t even count much over a nickel when I see the hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even worse, the millions of dollars that they want us Windham taxpayers to pay. Almost half a million dollars for a new fire engine, close to two hundred thousand dollars for a new plow truck with associated gear along with the purchase of a building in South Windham for a new fire station and a bond issue of almost $8 million. As far as I can see none of the money needed to pay for these even exists at the present time because it will come out of future budgets not even discussed or decided as of yet, so maybe the best place to start is that the town councilors pay us in order to have their meetings.

I can actually come up with a better idea when town councilors drain our bank accounts and that is to have them stand in public places and publicly announce what the impact of their actions will cost taxpayers. I must add that if property owners can no longer afford their taxes caused by the spending habits of town councilors, then those town councilors should personally be responsible for those costs.

I might have made a huge mistake in including all that in this column because now the cost of a nickel to obtain a plastic bag in a store might seem insignificant, unless of course one doesn’t have the extra nickel in the first place. But I guess the best suggestion I can make as far as a plastic bag costing a nickel, let’s place a nickel deposit on the bag and that way when it is blowing across someone’s property, they can pick it up and receive a nickel. Just like those who do the same with bottles and cans.

Before you jump to conclusions, my wife does the majority of our shopping needs as far as groceries and other necessities. I get to buy the more expensive items like a new snowblower this year. She uses reusable bags except when I ask her to get me some plastic bags.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham reuses plastic bags.