Ioannou described a recent visit to the Salt Lake Arts Festival. He saw three receptacles next to each other. One was for trash. One was for paper. And one was for recyclable cans and bottles. He watched as most people put things in their proper place. Then he saw someone take a cob of corn he had been eating and throw it in with the cans and bottles.

"I think 99 percent of the people will do the right thing," he said. "But if 1 percent do the wrong thing, it contaminates the efforts of everyone else."

But is there really no choice but to try to ban water bottles? Are we really being overrun by plastic rubbish?

Putting aside the pollution caused by creating plastics — pollution that must be weighed against the pollution of creating alternative products — the impact of plastic trash should be put in perspective. The Environmental Protection Agency's Web site reports that, in 2005, Americans created 245 million tons of waste. Of that, 11.9 percent was plastics. By contrast, 13.1 percent was yard trimmings.

The same site reports that Americans that year recycled 34.1 percent of their plastic soft-drink containers, and 28.8 percent of their plastic milk bottles. That compares with 44.8 percent of their aluminum drink cans and a whopping 99 percent of their car batteries.

We got the message on batteries. My guess is that has to do both with education and financial incentives.

So why not adopt policies that educate and encourage people to recycle more? Why not, as some cities have, place deposits on water bottles and other plastic containers?

The fight against water bottles remains a curious one. But, regardless, lecturing won't do. Given the plastic at your local grocery store, Americans will need some compelling reasons to change directions.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com