Ski towns to voluntarily cut plastic bags

Remember the contest that Telluride, Mountain Village and Aspen, Colo., had this summer, where they encouraged residents to use reusable grocery bags instead of disposables? Now the contest to being expanded to as many as 24 other ski towns in Colorado, and it will cover all of 2009. That's the story from the Summit Daily News in Frisco, Colo., which reports that the voluntary challenge among the Colorado Association of Ski Towns could prevent the use of nearly 7 million single-use plastic bags. Participating towns are asking local groceries and other retailers to keep track of how many reusable bags are used, and to make a 5 cent donation for each bag to an environmental education fund. This is such a better idea than a bag ban or a tax. Consumers can participate in the contest, and perhaps even get a small rebate from the store for using using reusable bags -- but the stores can still hand out disposable bags, which are handy for people who reuse them or who forget to bring their reusable bags.