It’s Eugene’s Turn to Consider the Ban on Plastic Bags

Reusable bagsThe Council of Eugene has decided to finally meet on the 17th of September in order to decide whether residents have to ban the usage of plastic bags and start using wholesale reusable bags or not. It is going to be a public hearing, which is a continuation of the discussion started in July’s Council hearing about the imposition of the proposed bag ban.

Even though the public seems to be supportive of the entire idea, the hearings have somehow stirred up heated discussions and debates as to follow which method. The Council is yet to decide if they want to use the Corvallisor the Portland method while executing the ban on plastic bag usage.

The Portland method

Portland started the ban in the state of Oregon and has led the bag ban movement, in a letter to all the residents, the Mayor of Portland spoke about the growing lethal impacts of plastics on wildlife and marine life. It was also mentioned as to how these single-use plastic bags are becoming an eyesore and blocking storm drains in the city.

Referring to the bags as an environmental nuisance, the Mayor said that the recycling machines are also being jammed, which is costing the city a lot of money to get them fixed. Even though Portland banned the bags from being sold at major grocery stores, the city requires a stricter ban in order to reduce the consumption of these bags.

The Corvallis method included selling of seed paper bags and fee n bags

The Corvallis method of banning plastic bags was almost similar to Portland’ s method, with the slight difference of imposing a fee on the bags being sold or more organic paper bags being sold. Citizens of the city itself requested for this move to be imposed on the entire region in order to motivate shoppers to switch to wholesale reusable bags.

The decision in the city of Eugene

With two options in their hands, the Eugene City Council hopes the citizens can help them choose. Most of the residents feel that the Corvallis method is apt forEugeneas reports from other cities have shown them that the usage of paper bags is going to increase and leave a larger carbon footprint.

In order for this not to happen a small fee needs to be put on the use of these paper bags as well so that consumers will be environmentally responsible and shift to using reusable totes.

Source: http://eugenedailynews.com/2012/08/30/eugene-considers-a-plastic-bag-ban/

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