It’s a municipal election year … for communities around B.C. …The flavour of the year for 2018 looks to be plastic bags. The nanny-state enthusiasts at Victoria city hall are running to the front of this parade, imposing fines and regulations …to stop [businesses] from recklessly putting customer purchases into plastic bags. …These social engineering bylaws don’t come close to getting rid of plastic bags and packaging. …Frozen peas and other convenience foods will continue to be sold in plastic bags. Electronics, tools and toys will still come in those hard bubble packs that require a Jedi light-sabre to open, and all that stuff has to be sorted and recycled. …Two obvious absurdities arise. Most “reusable” bags are made from woven plastic, generally shipped from China. And as Victoria admits, making paper bags produces more greenhouse gas emissions than turning natural gas into plastic bags.