American University banned plastic bags from campus’ retail stores one year ago, but the eco-activist policy is getting a big thumbs down from students.

Josh Kaib, a student at the school, reports that his classmates deem the rule “onerous, unnecessary and invasive.”

The start of each semester is an unwelcome reminder of the aggressive eco-friendly policy, marked by students leaving the bookstore juggling large and heavy stacks of books, or exiting sandwich shops holding their wrapped lunch and hoping napkins don’t fly away as they walk.

And they’re sick of it, based on angry letters to the campus newspaper, rants on an AU blog, a campus news editorial that took a stand against the policy, and grumblings among groups of friends on campus.

“Let me make the choice to save the environment rather than force me to by removing all of my options,” decried one student in an online American University blog post. “Not to mention, I reuse plastic shopping bags all the time.”

The Eagle campus newspaper, in an editorial, also jumped in on the controversy: “ … we think there is a better way of implementing (green efforts). Instead of burdening the student body, let students decide to save the environment. The goal should be to change student’s daily habits rather than force them to adopt new policies. Just because our mothers made us eat vegetables back home doesn’t mean we’re filling our reusable TDR boxes with broccoli.”

It’s unclear whether the policy will be revisited at American University, but it certainly remains unpopular among many. The policy was approved by the student government in 2011 and took effect fall 2012.

In response to the public outcry, members of Eco-Sense, the environmental group on AU’s campus, submitted a letter to the editor to The Eagle student newspaper saying the inconvenience is necessary for “progress.”

“Disposable plastic bags have a destructive impact on waterways and wildlife and the University was right in eliminating these harmful products from our waste stream,” read the letter.

Additional complaints on “Eagle Rants,” a service of The Eagle that allows students to post anonymous rants online, included this one: “I bet the same stupid people who abolished the use of plastic bags are the same ones that took away a good McDonalds,” wrote a ‘frustrated freshman,’ referring to the closing of an on-campus McDonalds after the expiration of its lease.

Other students echoed similar sentiments on Eagle Rants.

“Let me pay 5 cents to get a freaking plastic bag to cary [sic] stuff,” wrote another student, referring to Washington, D.C.’s 5 cent bag tax. “What if I wasn’t planning on getting my books or some supplies from eagles nest, but i found some free time…sorry i didn’t bring a reusable bag with me.”