Every day we see articles and news features about the causes and effect of climate disruption. There are several ways that we, as private citizens, can help mitigate the damage that’s being done to our planet.

One of the easiest things we can do is to stop using single use plastic shopping bags. Recently I sat in the always-busy Fred Meyer parking lot waiting for a friend, and in the space of 15 minutes, not one shopper left the store with a reusable bag. This both saddens and infuriates me that our citizens are so irresponsible.

It is obvious that the city of Federal Way needs to enact a ban on plastic bags like so many other cities have done. I have heard all the excuses why people do not cultivate the habit of using reusable shopping bags: pet waste disposal, free trash can liner, blah blah blah. The simple fact is people just don’t want to be inconvenienced. So it is time for our city government to step up its green game and get those plastic bags out of our waste stream.

Hilary King

Federal Way