The ban came up in conversation in the editorial department at UBM Canon's Santa Monica office yesterday. Not surprisingly, there was some griping. Being a fairly liberal bunch—this is Santa Monica we're talking about—no one saw it as an assault on liberty and the American way of life, but many were clearly inconvenienced and not especially happy about the ban. Having to pay 10 cents for paper bags, which had been free until Jan. 1, compounded the displeasure.

The conversation brought to mind a bit that comedian George Carlin used to do about environmentalism in general and plastic in particular. The gist of the rant, in case you have not heard it, is that maybe the planet wanted plastic.

"The earth doesn't share our prejudice toward plastic," posits Carlin. "Plastic came out of the earth. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place: it wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. It needed us."

If you haven't heard the inimitable George Carlin expound hilariously and philosophically on our higher purpose on this planet, do yourself a favor and watch the video below. It's part of a larger monologue that you can watch here. Be warned: the seven-minute version contains liberal droppings of the f bomb. If you're watching it at work, you might want to put on some headphones.

— Norbert Sparrow