Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Seattle Takes Aim at Paper, Plastic Bags




Seattle Officials Propose 20-Cent Fee for Disposable Grocery Bags
SEATTLE Apr 3, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press

Paper or plastic? Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin say the answer is neither. The two are proposing a 20-cent fee on disposable shopping bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores. Their plan announced Wednesday also calls for a ban on foam take-home containers, plates and cups at restaurants. The proposal requires the City Council's approval. Conlin and Nickels say paper and plastic bags and foam containers are bad for the environment, and they hope charging a fee will encourage people to bring reusable bags when they shop. The 20-cent fee per bag would be divvied up — 5 cents for the retailer, 15 cents for the city. But retailers grossing less than $1 million a year will keep the entire 20-cent fee.
Seattle Public Utilities estimates that 360 million disposable bags are handed out in the city every year — most of them plastic. Plastic bags are virtually indestructible, taking years to break down and commonly ending up in landfills.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Posted by at 11:16 PM
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1 comments:

  1. Yes, one bag. That's a great start! Seriously though, one bag doesn't cut it. And a tax will only anger Seattlites (Remember the coffee tax?) while allowing the demand for plastic bags to be present. An all out ban is in order. We are in, as Leonardo DiCaprio put it, "The Eleventh Hour". It is too late to put a tax on a bag to decrease it's use. Plastic bag use just needs to stop. Why can't Seattle be like San Francisco? Sure their program isn't perfect either, but it's a better start than a tax for businesses to make money off of. On the other hand, this program actually works out great for business owners. Instead of providing plastic bags at a cost to them, the cost is now moving to the customer. I'm sure they are all lining up for thier free canvas bag.......to haul all their extra money to the bank!!

    I'm very dissappointed that this is the best solution that the city of Seattle could come up with. Seattlites pride themselves on being part of a very eco-friendly city. I'm sure that there are more canvas toting people in Seattle than a lot of other cities, however a ban on plastic will not increase this number. All this proposal does is stimulate the business owners a little and tick off everyone else.
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