As you may have heard, the city of Madison has passed “The Plastic Bag Law.” It sounds very official, n’est-ce pas?

Technically, this law is a mandate for the people of Madison to recycle their plastic bags, including grocery bags, dry cleaning bags and the bag your newspaper comes in.

Nonetheless, the mandate requires we deliver our plastic bags to a drop-off site. Though many people seem to be a little outraged by this part of the requirement, drop-off sites seem to be just about everywhere. They are in grocery stores — where the majority of plastic bags are accumulated — and on campus, with the nearest drop-off sites being Capital Centre Market, Trader Joe’s and University Bookstore. Easy enough. Throughout the rest of the city, most grocery stores are now drop-off sites for plastic bags. A full list of drop-off sites can be found on the City of Madison website. So relax a little folks; this will be relatively painless.

Like other recycled items, the bags should be clean. Even the smallest amount of residue makes the item non-recyclable. In other words, you can throw those bags in the trash without punishment. If you are reusing your plastic bags to scoop kitty litter into, please don’t recycle.

In actuality though, any plastic bag can still be thrown in the trash. After all, the law is practically unenforceable, just like the seat belt law and the no texting while driving law — yes, that’s the official term for it, I swear. These are all admirable laws, don’t get me wrong. The intentions are good, but the enforceability is pretty minimal.

So basically, the law is crap. It’s unlikely to make a huge difference, though I hope it does, as does the city.

Since it is practically unenforceable, we can chalk this law up to being mostly about awareness, but is that enough? Most people believe recycling is good just as much as they know that tweeting while driving is bad and riding a motorcycle without a helmet is dangerous, but that doesn’t accomplish anything if action is not taken. Plenty of people are still riding without cranium protection and chatting away while attempting to steer, and the fact is plenty of people are still going to trash every plastic bag they receive.

What’s worse is we are still using as many plastic bags as we are.

This isn’t just an American problem. Around the world, plastic bag consumption is spiraling out of control. It is estimated that around the world, consumption of plastic bags has reached 500 billion each year. These bags continue to crowd our landfills, suffocating our planet for approximately 1,000 years. The United States is largely responsible for this waste, contributing to about one fifth of the problem. Surprise, surprise.

While the city of Madison is attempting to raise awareness about recycling plastic bags, the Good Neighbor City of Middleton is considering a ban on non-biodegradable bags altogether. In November, the idea was proposed by City Council President Howard Teal. Middleton is now in the very early creation of a law.

Perhaps this kind of law isn’t possible at this time for the city of Madison, but it really isn’t up to the city. It is up to the people. The effect of consumer awareness regarding plastic bags could be astronomically better than a city-wide ban.

Reusable bags need to become more than a trend — if only because they’re usually adorned with cute patterns — and we need to stop coming up with excuses for failing to utilize them. “I always forget them” and “they’re expensive” are the most common excuses for not using reusable bags. Start remembering. Spend a few dollars to play a role in helping our environment. Better yet, don’t use bags at all if you can help it. Purchasing just one item at Walgreens? Carry it. Stick it in your purse.

I’m not trying to be harsh and I’m no perfect environmentalist. I leave the lights on more often than I should and I drive a car that guzzles too much gas. But if there is one thing I conscientiously do to increase awareness, it is that I do not use plastic bags.

While the new “plastic bag law” may be totally worthless, Madison is doing the right thing by starting some kind of recycling system; they are starting small. The solution may not be perfect for homeowners that already pay to get their recycling taken away, and it may not be perfect for environmentalists that want to see a more absolute solution. And it may not be perfect for the people that love plastic bags and couldn’t care less about the environment, but it is the right thing, right now.

Jaimie Chapman ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism.