As managing editor of A few more communities made headlines today for considering plastic grocery bag bans. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is considering a ban on polyethylene bags, similar to San Francisco's, at a meeting today. Here's a link to the motion that's being considered.
The Los Angeles Times has a interesting story on its Web site about how San Francisco's law would not make sense in LA because the city doesn't have a composting infrastructure for handling degradable bags. But don't think that means plastic bags are off the hook. One environmentalist suggests that the solution should be to ban all plastic bags -- both the polyethylene and degradable varieties.
"We're all for any community that wants to pursue a ban on plastic bags," said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit group based in Sacramento."But if I was going to Los Angeles or any other communities that are thinking they might take this approach, we would propose they look at a straight-out ban on plastic bags" — including compostable plastic bags, he said.
Meantime, a small community on the opposite coast also is making noise about banning plastic bags. Isle of Wight, Va., a small county on the James River near Smithfield, blames plastic bags for, among other things, contaminating the local cotton crop.
Tom Ivy, chairman of the Isle of Wight board, said he's not sure Isle of Wight has the power to ban the bags because Virginia is a Dillon Rule state. That means cities and counties can only exercise powers granted by the state.But it's worth looking into, Ivy said, if the bags damage farmers' crops. Cotton is a major crop in Isle of Wight, where farmers grew 19,600 acres of it in 2005 - the second-highest producer of cotton in the state.
Bags can go through cotton gins, which shred them into pieces that can damage the cotton's quality, Parker said.
Plastic bag makers are going to have a tough time fighting to keep their products legal in cities and towns as geographically and demographically diverse as Los Angeles and Isle of Wight.
Comments (2)
Here's an update on the Los Angeles version, courtesy of the LA Times:
The board voted to ask the city's Department of Public Works to study the issue and report back in 90 days.
In addition to a ban, other options the city might pursue include "encouraging customers to buy reusable sacks or [to] return plastic bags to the store," the paper reports.
Posted by Don Loepp | April 10, 2007 4:18 PM
Posted on April 10, 2007 16:18
I attempted to contact San Francisco Board of Superivors to discuss the possibility of recycling plastic bags instead of banning plastic bags. I was thanked for my concern and a Supervisor stated that the ban did not preclude a "strong recycling program". The Supervisor did not offer any basis of fact for initiating the ban or for that matter any basis at all. The Supervisor did state that an aide would contact me to learn more about my thoughts on the possibility of recycling and of course to further express her position regarding the ban. Unfortunately, I have not heard anything since my initial contact with the Supervisor which leads me to wonder, "what is the real motivation behind this issue?"
It certainly appears that building an infrastructure to capture and recycle plastic bags is not a very high priority in SF. Plastic bags are a marvelous product that use less resources to manufacture then competitive products. Plastic bags have better qualities then most alternatives as well. Shouldn't an attempt be made to use technology to develop a recycling infrastructure that would allow the recpture of these bags after they have been used for their primary purpose and recycle the bags into plastic resin? The resin could then be used to manufacture new durable products that benefit society. This process would add jobs, increase economic activity and make a legitimate contribution to society. Wouldn't that be a much more logical approach than an outright ban?
As a friend of mine used to say "Just one man's opinion."
Posted by Chris Dickson | April 12, 2007 8:43 AM
Posted on April 12, 2007 08:43