Reusable bags last a long time

Re: “Ban on plastic bags to start in Victoria July 1 with range of fines,” Dec. 16.

My family wholly supports the planned bylaw banning single-use plastic bags in Victoria. We have been using cloth bags since the early 1990s.

Contrary to the opinion of “experts” that reusable bags create more greenhouse gas than paper or plastic, and other published opinions that people will just trash their non-plastic bags after a few uses, using cloth bags is easy and convenient; they last a long time; and they are usually free. Smart businesses around the world, including some in B.C., supply quality cloth bags at no cost to the consumer.

Our cloth-bag collection includes some from B.C. vintners (Nk’Mip Cellars multibottle wine bags are an often-admired favourite), B.C. institutions (B.C. Hydro, UVic) and local retailers (grocers, booksellers, hardware, etc.). My favourites are

those collected in our travels: a huge Dunnes Stores bag from Ireland; a baguette bag from France that will hold three and encase the entire length of each loaf; a bag that folds neatly and snaps shut into a wallet-sized little package, free from a butcher in France, that fits in my small purse.

Our bags sometimes go walkabout, sending things home with offspring or friends, but somehow they are either returned or replaced by a new or used find.

Valerie Gibbs Victoria