Environmental Concerns

To the Editor: 
We went to a wedding in Monterey, Calif. in August 2018. For my husband and me, it was a return to the area where we had first met and courted.
I’d been living in San Francisco, and he was in Sausalito, north across the Golden Gate Bridge, but the Monterey weather, the foggy mornings, and the cool breezes were very familiar.
We rented a house across from a golf course, where deer grazed as if no golf balls would dare hit them. We were just a few houses off the beach.
This did not mean we could wear our swimsuits, take our towels, slather on sunscreen and cavort in the water. The water was about 50 degrees, so without a wetsuit, one doesn’t last long. But, walking along the beach, with the rocky shore, and the water crashing, throwing spray high about the rocks was beautiful.
Sometimes we’d see otters floating on their back, cracking rocks against seashells on their stomachs, releasing the food inside the shells. Sometimes we’d see seals sunning on a rock bleached white by bird droppings.
At the welcome reception, we were transfixed by whales nearby in the sea breaching, flipping on their backs in the air and landing with a huge splash.
But, my favorites were the pelicans, which flew in nearly straight lines, their big pouches under their bills, within inches of the water, even as it swelled and rolled beneath their flight path.
The purpose of the visit was getting together with family, seeing those we actually lived closer to but saw rarely. However, the biggest surprise for me was a trip to a department store.
We have the same store in New Jersey, and in probably every state. But, once again, California was leading the nation in change.
Checking out with our week’s worth of food, the cashier kept asking, “Do you want this in a bag?” Each time we answered yes.
Our yeses got louder and more definitive. When the cashier was finished, she counted how many bags we had, and I questioned why.
We were being charged 10 cents for every bag we took. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it made us look around.
We realized many people had brought in their reusable bags, bags we had at home, but rarely remembered to use. We saw people stuffing their bags full to the top, carefully arranging the merchandise to get the most into the space. We saw people walking out to their cars with no bags, with groceries held loose in their bare hands.
When we got back to the house and unloaded, we did not throw out the bags. We saved them.
We passed them on to the family members who shopped the following day. It was a small penalty, but we saw people reacting everywhere we went.
Such a small penalty to cause such a swift and sure reduction in the number of bags being used. It wasn’t the 10 cents. We were on vacation, and the year-round residents of Monterey could surely afford it themselves. But, the minor penalty imposed by the government had caused a pervasive behavioral change.
Back in New Jersey, I dusted off my reusable bags, and am trying to remember to take them into the store with me. We, too, have a beautiful ocean, with animals living nearby, and scenic beaches, tide pools, marshes and wetlands.
We are better than we once were about putting trash in the can. But, we need to prevent the trash in the first place.
Our actions have consequences. A simple reminder doesn’t hurt.