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XP: thoughts rer third party intervention
hi hi hi
i posted this on TB too, but i thought there might be good discussion here too.
this may be somewhat controversial.. but i thought i would post anyway 'cause i know the folks on this board are pretty open-minded and we can respectfully disagree with each other if it came to that.
there's been a couple stories here in ca that have been getting some media attention and it's been on my mind so i just wanted to see what other people thought.
of course, i'm oversimplifying the situations and i don't have all the facts, nor have i researched any of the issues further than what i've been hearing on the news.
1) a city (county? i forgot which one) has passed an ordinance outlawing plastic bags like at grocery stores and such. i *think* it goes on further to say that if you want a paper bag, there is a 5 cent charge.
i'm thinking- great! let's save the environment. but i don't get the paper bag 5 cent charge. particularly for low-income individuals who may not be able to afford even some change for the paper bags. i also love the reusable grocery bags that are available, but honestly, about half the time they are too small to cover all the groceries i buy. i'm thinking that many low-income individuals may not have the funds to buy reusable grocery bags, let alone a ton of them to hold all their stuff?
2) a mom has sued mcd's to cease selling happy meals because they target children and it's not healthy. i guess it's gaining popularity. and you know mcd's has a strong legal team.
i guess my reaction is basically, so what? the local news media interviewed some parents and they said something like "my child cries and wants a happy meal. so i have to buy it for them." maybe i'm too mean and strict, but i find it the parents' responsibillity to say "No" to their child and follow through with it. you don't "have" to buy it for them.
when i was younger, my parents hardly ever allowed me to have a happy meal even when i cried and wanted and pouted for one. having a happy meal was a special treat, and i don't think i have lingering issues by them denying me a happy meal.
i actually think giving your child EVERYTHING and saying yes to everything is irresponsible and is more detrimental in the future because there aren't any boundaries. and then, the issue becomes, where do you draw the line? and if parents can't say no to their kids, is that mcd's fault? i mean, sure, if they are "targeting kids" they may have some responsibility, but ultimately, shouldn't the parents have the final say?
what do you guys think?
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???
Re: XP: thoughts rer third party intervention
Hi Jen!!
Re: Plastic bags. I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, I think people should be reusing bags as much as possible but a 5 cent charge per bag could add up, and people who just don't care will never make the effort to take a reusable bag to the store, and the whole plastic bag thing will just continue.
I think this is a regional thing but my local stores never bother to ask if I need a bag or not. Today, I bought one bottle of hairspray which would have easily fit into my purse, or I could have carried it out without a bag, but the cashier just stuffed it into a bag and handed it to me before I could let her know that I didn't need one. This happens all.the.time. At stores I used to frequent in Vancouver, I feel like cashiers always asked first if I needed a bag or not. I also feel like it made people think about whether they needed a bag or not. I'd see customers at the counter take a quick inventory of their stuff and say, "I can just carry all of this to the car".
Bottom line: I still don't know whether there should be an or ordinance or not, but there needs to be more awareness on the part of the consumer, and the store/cashier. I used to go to a supermarket in Japan where you got a stamp each time you brought your own bag, and after 10 stamps, you got $5 off your purchase. Maybe an incentive (like more than 5 cents off each time you bring a reusable bag) would be nice.
2) To me, suing McD's, or any other restaurant or junk food producer is ridiculous. It is not their fault if a child is hooked on their food. Even if they did stop making Happy Meals, so what? Next, BK would get sued. Then KFC, and so on. If it's too difficult for a young child to understand the difference between healthy food and unhealthy food, then it is up to the parent to provide healthy food as much possible. I don't have kids so I don't know the challenge of finding the time to prep healthy meals, dealing with picky eaters, etc but that's just my personal opinion. Like you said, Jenn, I also say to those parents that their kids cry, "so what?". That's what being a kid is about! You don't always get your way, but you deal with it, and then get over it!
I think it's the charging for paper bags, the alternative, confuses me. I totally get it though about not fostering the idea of using reusable bags. That's a great point that I hadn't thought of!
I think they don't want mcd's to advertise happy meals on tv, radio, print, and in their stores. This one makes no sense to me. I dunno....
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???
Re: Plastic bags being banned, I guess it's good that they're trying to encourage less plastic. But I agree that if you're going to ban a less-desirable alternative, you shouldn't charge for the remaining option. That's like an airline charging for checked bags, and then deciding to also charge for carry-on luggage.
Whole Foods gives a 5-cent instant rebate for each reusable bag I bring with me. It's not a lot, but if I don't want the rebate, they'll give me wooden nickels instead. I drop the nickels into one of several donation boxes (for different organizations), and they donate real $ for each wooden nickel in the box. I love that they do this!
Re: Suing McDonalds for targeting kids with Happy Meals... that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
i was wrong! i think they charge for recycled bags... and paper bags are free but have to contain at least 40% reused material.
haha i said i didn't hear all of the story! hahahah
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???
Plastic Bags: I do agree that it would be wrong to charge for the paper bags. I love that Japanese stamp card idea! The 5 cent rebate is not enough to make me remember to bring my bag in each time, and like one of you said, sometimes those reusable bags are so small you would need like ten just to carry all your stuff! (Trader Joes has nice ones!)
McDs: like someone said, it is up to the parents to control what their kid eats, and not give in and say yes all the time. Like you, McD's was a treat for us, and even then we were only allowed to get a happy meal and the orange drink, no soda. We loved it but never whined or demanded we have it! I think some parents are just getting lazy and want to point fingers/blame someone for their obese children. Lawsuits are good in some cases, but other times they can just really get out of hand!