Is Green a good thing?

I have lived in Austin for almost 7 years and I do consider it to be a very "go green" city. But how green is too green. The blogger of It's Called Texas brings up the bag ban that has recently swept over Austin. The author brings up many valid points on why this may not be in our best interest. For one, it is not very cost effective and we wont actually see the affects for 150 years. Also, the food contamintation is a huge concern for me. Granted I never remember to bring my bags and always end up buying new ones at the store. Some people do remember their bags but did they remember to wash them? Did they remember that they had chicken and pork in that bag just last week. Food Bourne illness is a very serious sickness. According to the CDC "it estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. That is a lot of people, granted not all of those people got food bourne illness due to reusing a paper or cloth bag. I also have to agree with the author of the pure inconvenience not only do I forget my bags but when I am going shopping to look around and find a few items I have to figure out a way to get them home or but another bag. No joke I probably have 50 bags behind my shelf. Recently, I went to Pflugerville to shop just so i could get bags without having to pay for them. Another flaw to the system is the paper bags are much taller and look very sturdy however they're not! I wish that grocery store employees would stop putting all my cans in one bag. I do not know how many time I have been carrying my groceries up the 3 flights of stairs to my apartment and the bag starts ripping due to weight! Its paper people not indestuctible! So after that rant I have to agree with the author I think the bag ban that turns out is voluntary is too far. I thought the author presented a great case and formulated an argument based on facts. Maybe there should be a reusable bag option which I could use when I am going to the store for a few small things. I just wish this project that cost so much money was a bit more thought out.