More on the Ubiquitous Black Plastic Bag

They are everywhere, all the time. There is some cultural thing about not carrying anything exposed in your hand. I was scolded by my house mom when I carried an apple out the door with me to class, but I didn\t even then get the full understanding. A PCV whose been here a year used by scarf to cover an apple she was carrying. A young girl returned a book I had loaned her in a black plastic bag. The idea that there is a spot in the ocean bigger than all of Ghana and composed of used plastic doesn\t compute at all. So I heard, from a good source but have not confirmed, that the UK has banned all plastic shopping bags. Totally. No more. We care about the environment. But wait,we do have this machinery we can\t use any more. I know, let\s sell it at a good price to a manufacturer in Ghana! And they did! Why am I not surprised? Remember all those outlawed pesticides? And even those had some redeeming social value for a country where people are hungry, but plastic bags? Gimme a break!