It's time to start a discussion about banning the majority of plastic bags in Anacortes.
-----------------------------------------
Seattle Bans Carry-Out Plastic Bags
------------------------------------------
The Seattle City Council followed Bellingham's lead and unanimously voted on 19 December to pass Council Bill 117345, a ban on single-use plastic bags by grocers and other retail stores. This vote comes after similar measures were previously passed in Mulkiteo, Edmonds and Portland.
The Seattle ordinance imposes a five-cent fee on paper grocery bags that merchants will use to offset the higher cost of the paper bags and to remind shoppers to bring reusable bags to stores. Residents will still be able to buy plastic bags to line garbage cans, pick up dog poop and bag yard debris. (A long list of exceptions in the Seattle ordinance is noted in the footnote below.)*
The Seattle ordinance was supported by the Northwest Grocery Association, which represents Washington's largest supermarket chains: Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons.
--------------------------
The Threat to Wildlife
--------------------------
The ban on plastic bags is motivated, in large measure, by their reported threat to Puget Sound Wildlife.
- UW Tacoma research discovered small pieces of plastic in every water sample taken in Puget Sound.
- In 2010, an autopsy performed on a gray whale beached in West Seattle was found 20 plastic bags in its stomach.
- Washingtonians use over two billion plastic bags every year.
- Nationwide, only 6% of plastic bags are recycled; in Seattle, only 13% are recycled.
At least 20 countries and more than 50 local governments in the United States have already banned disposable plastic bags.
-------------------
An Observation:
Netherlands
------------------
On a personal note, my view of the plastic bag issue is colored by my four-year assignment at the American Embassy in The Hague. Plastic bags were long-banned before I arrived, and no one missed them. Everyone carried shopping bags to the grocery store. I only forgot, once, my bags at home, but the Albert Hein grocer was glad to sell me a super-oversized mil-spec-reinforced plastic bag that I still use and which I'll be able to pass on to my grandchildren.
-------------------------
Insights Wanted from the
Chamber of Commerce
& Others
----------------------------
Before offering an ordinance before the Anacortes City Council, I would certainly like to have some insights from the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce and other citizens.
I'm sure there are a number of secondary issues to consider. Just one example: would a city-wide ban have to be accompanied by a Skagit Valley-wide ban in order to forestall those shoppers who might flee across the Swinomish Channel to get their plastic bags?
-----
Links for more information:
- Bellingham Ordinance: http://www.cob.org/web/bmcode.nsf/0/919CAAEB10FCA136882578E60061F1CD
- Environment Washington (who seems to be coordinating the campaign against plastic bags) http://www.environmentwashington.org/home
- CIty of Seattle news release on protecting marine wildlife: http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=12378
------
* The exceptions in Seattle Council Bill 117345
Carryout bags do not include: (a) bags used by customers inside stores to package bulk items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, greeting cards, or small hardware items, such as nails and bolts, or to contain or wrap frozen foods, meat or fish, whether prepackaged or not, or to contain or wrap flowers or potted plants, or other items where dampness may be a problem, or to contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods, or to contain prescription drugs, or to safeguard public health and safety during the transportation of prepared take-out foods and prepared liquids intended for consumption away from the retail establishment; or (b) newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags.