Dear Editor,

Whatever happened to persuasion? Governments at all levels seem to think they must draft very specific laws mandating the way we live rather than presenting evidence and suggestions for better living. I feel a bit offended when governments decree mandates about something that should be common practice among civilized beings. 

Here is but one example. A few years back, the Canadian government banned ‘single-use’ plastic bags, such as the thin film grocery bags that used to come nearly free with your grocery shopping. I suppose there was a lot of waste involved, and I’m against that, but those bags were not the biggest problem amateur and professional waste management advocates face. They could be used for many chores, such as waste basket liners, collecting bottles and cans from along the roads, or storing herbs. They’ve been replaced by ‘reusable’ bags which actually have as heavy an environmental footprint, are not waterproof, and are therefore not as easily re-used. Meanwhile, really harmful waste products, such as cable ties and pop can holders, continue to proliferate. These are items commonly used and disposed of. They’re made of tough plastic which will break into unusable fragments, but won’t disappear in seven generations of our lives. Wildlife can be drastically harmed by these cast-off packaging elements, while we reach for another one to temporarily tie our world together.  

If governments would turn to education and persuasion rather than mandates and penalties, it would not trigger my allergic reaction to mandates. What do you think about this? 

Robert Wills, Shawville and Thorne