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BY CLARK MASON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A proposed county-wide ban on carry-out plastic bags gained a little more traction this week as Windsor became the second city in Sonoma County to endorse the idea.
The council unanimously agreed that discontinuing use of the plastic bags, which are ubiquitous at grocery stores, is good for the environment and reducing litter.
But council members also decided there should be a “disincentive” for using paper bags — basically a nominal charge — so that consumers don’t simply switch to paper.
Ultimately, the goal is a widespread consumer shift to reusable bags.
“Once you’re in the habit, it’s easier to do – to bring your own bags,” said Councilwoman Debora Fudge. “I’m super excited to support this today.”
“It’s an idea whose time has come, an issue communities will really rally around,” predicted Councilwoman Cheryl Scholar.
The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, which is proposing the ban, is making presentations to the nine cities in the county, all of which would need to endorse a unified county ordinance.
Petaluma this week expressed its support for the proposal.
Still to be determined is whether the ban should extend to department and drug stores and whether smaller retailers should be exempted.
There have been recent failed legislative attempts in Sacramento to ban carry-out plastic bags statewide and charge for paper.
Meanwhile, other jurisdictions have gone ahead with their own bans, including Marin County, San Francisco, Fairfax, San Jose, Palo Alto, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Los Angeles County.
Mendocino County supervisors in April authorized an environmental study as part of a move toward banning plastic carry-out bags.
A trade group spokeswoman for plastic bag manufacturers on Thursday said that bans are misguided.
“We support recycling as a viable alternative to taxes on plastic bags and bans,” said Allyson Wilson, a representative for the American Chemistry Council.
Her organization maintains that recycling of plastic bags and plastic wrap increased 31 percent since 2005.
“Plastic bags are a good choice,” she asserted, adding that it takes 70 percent less energy to manufacture than a paper bag.
Wilson said that the vast majority of consumers report re-using plastic grocery bags for households tasks – such as handling dirty diapers, pet waste, or wet clothes after a trip to the beach.
“Plastic bags have a useful function and people rely on them,” she said.
“While plastic bags may be convenient, they have wreaked havoc on the Sonoma County environment and the Russian River. We must do better,” countered North County Supervisor Mike McGuire, who said the bags are still a problem despite the fact they can be recycled in curb-side bins.
He said most plastic bags wind up in waterways, littering the countryside, or in landfills where they don’t degrade.
McGuire pointed to a story in the Washington Post that reported a dramatic decline in use of carry-out food and grocery bags after plastic ones were banned in the nation’s capital and a five-cent charge was placed on paper bags.
The total number of disposable bags used went from 22.5 million per month to 3 million.
McGuire said the ban also benefits retailers because they no longer have to provide the bags to consumers, and some of the money charged for paper bags is used to clean up waterways.
Paper bags also are considered problematic because they produce more greenhouse gases and take up space in landfills.
The Sonoma County Waste Management Agency said banning single-use plastic bags is one of the first steps citizens can take to slow down the use of products made from oil, that also contribute to global warming during the manufacturing process.
In addition, the bags clog recycling equipment and substantially contribute to ocean litter, according to proponents of a ban.
In recent years there has been more awareness about a massive “gyre” in the Pacific Ocean of floating plastic objects that harm marine life, although there is a dispute over its size.
Windsor council members spoke of personally picking up plastic bags littering the landscape, whether on the highway, or along the Russian River.
Fudge said that during clean-up campaigns on the river, she has seen a plethora of plastic bags in tree branches.
“These are all going out to Jenner and to our gyre in the Pacific,” she said.
Salmon said the many different types and colors of plastic bags he sees along the freeway are not deliberate litter, but “fly out of cars.”
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“No American city still dumps its trash in the ocean.
That ended years ago. The garbage you find on the beach is primarily from Asia. – Skippy”
Asia, huh… funny… can’t recall as ever having scooped up any Asian garbage on beach cleanup day. Lots of KFC and Safeway bags, McDonalds wrappers, candybar wrappers, American beer cans and bottles, and waterlogged Huggies. Guess someone else got assigned to work on the Asian garbage beach.
No American city still dumps its trash in the ocean.
That ended years ago.
The garbage you find on the beach is primarily from Asia.
They still pump and dump billions of pounds of crap into their rivers and oceans.
These are the same nations which lay miles-long nets to catch anything swimming by, and then dump millions of dead sea creatures back ‘cuz they don’t like ‘em.
Green and sustainable, you betcha!
Windsor shoppers are a convenient target for those too lazy or afraid to place blame where it belongs.
I refuse to heed meaningless gestures designed to avoid angering our creditors.
Free the plastic bags!
“First of all, when I go to the beach, I don’t see the trash crashing on the shores of our beaches….flying over the Pacific, I don’t see the trash in the ocean”
C’mon Joyce…. Really? That’s your argument? If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist? Who’s being foolish?
I’m delighted that you took the time to teach your children and grandchildren right from wrong. So maybe you don’t personally require legislation that dictates your use of single use plastic bags. Congratulations. There are, however, lots of less responsible people and businesses who don’t share your thoughts on stewardship. Almost four hundred billion bags worth in the US alone.
You and I have very different ideas about government’s role. Did you cry foul when our “Nanny State” banned chlorofluorocarbons? (the ozone is overrated… who needs it). How about when they conspired to remove lead from gasoline? (a little lead in our children’s systems toughens them up). Absent this legislation my dear, our corporations would have continued cranking out Freon and Ethyl just as fast as their little production lines would let them.
Look, I don’t like government, especially local government, involving themselves in my scene any more than is absolutely necessary. I believe that they frequently get it wrong and need to be constantly monitored so that their voracious appetite for control doesn’t erode our civil rights to a pathetic little nub. I’m absolutely with you there. But once in awhile, by chance or dumb luck, they stumble upon an idea that makes sense to me. These very rare occasions are cause to celebrate and support. Not decry, lambaste, and ridicule.
Don’t worry about plastic bags. Why?icepe aific
Go see George Carlin – “Save The Planet”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw
@Jon Bixler, to say that, “A ban on single use bags won’t raise your taxes, won’t adversely impact your quality of life” is foolish! You bought into the whole Government needs to take care of people. First of all, when I go to the beach, I don’t see the trash crashing on the shores of our beaches….flying over the Pacific, I don’t see the trash in the ocean…but what I do see is our freedoms being snatched away and people accepting it! I am perfectly capable of teaching my kids and grandkids to protect this land God blessed us with. I teach them that we are Stewards of this great Nation and to be wise. Recycle, conserve water and electricity, don’t litter and get into the habit of using cloth bags.
We don’t need Government telling us what we can and cannot do…by the way, in Cotati when this issue came up, 4 to 1, the citizens told the council that it was a bad idea….the council voted 5-0 to support this ridiculous ban. This is not about plastic bags, this is about control and you Sir seem to be satisfied with Government controlling your life….I am not!
Cost $135,440‐$193,240 for
CEQA and legal review;
$137,000 for enforcement –
SCWMA;
Likely the least overall,
countywide cost
$131,480‐$184,480 for CEQA
and legal review – SCWMA;
$41,760‐$76,760 cost to each
participating jurisdiction
$137,000 for enforcement
$4,260‐$8,520 for support
to jurisdictions – SCWMA
$116,760‐$165,760 to each
jurisdiction for CEQA and
legal review; $137,000 for
enforcement
How many of these cities who passed this ban are in litigation or have reversed the ordinance?
Go to page 23 for some real nauseating reading.
http://www.ci.cotati.ca.us/app/assets/managed/meetings/COUNCIL07132011packet.pdf
@Dogs Rule
What are you going to do, move to the free state of Texas? It’s been over 105 degrees for the last 35 days and next week shows no let up. Better to stick around a nice place and try to keep it that way. we need you here.
Why do we insist on being the last bastian of ignorance when it comes to environmental responsibility?
Plastic bags are wretched for our environment! (but you already knew that). We use 380 billion bags in the US every year. It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce these bags Less than 1% of them are recycled.
10% of the garbage that washes up on our shores is plastic bags. 90% of the garbage floating in the oceans is plastic based. Each square mile of ocean is estimated to have 46,000 pieces of floating plastic garbage. There is a flotilla of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific that’s estimated to be larger than the State of Texas. There’s a second one that’s been discovered in the Atlantic. I’ll spare you the pain of having to read the lengthy list of creatures that are killed or maimed by plastic bags.
China, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Australia, India, Somalia, Botswana, Philippines, Uganda, Kenya, Japan, Turkey, Zanzibar, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Belgium, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Bhutan, and Malta have already banned or heavily restricted single use plastic bags.
A ban on single use bags won’t raise your taxes, won’t adversely impact your quality of life, and hardly qualifies as big brother-esque. Good lord, people. Get some re-useable grocery bags, put them in your trunk, and EVOLVE for f&%k’s sake.
I must say that plastic is disgusting when not recycled or disposed of properly.
Plastics never disappear like paper does.
I visit the Northern Oregon Coast and the Sonoma Coast. At our coast I bring a PLASTIC bag to pick up plastic garbage off the beach, and a PLASTIC bag to put beach finds in. On the Oregon Coast, I would need a dump truck.
I have found glass fishing floats, but the amount of plastics is overwhelming, even to a clean the beach freak like me. Amazing amounts. Shocks me lately. Mostly Asian trash.
Peter makes a point. There is far more plastic in your plastic grocery bag than the bag itself. Produce bags, meat with styrofoam, frozen food bags, even healthy veggies, though pizza rolls and tater tots rock too.
Plastic collection needs to be increased, but some want laws and regulation and costs to be involved in anything from on high.
They know better, obey the Utopians.
Besides, paper bags in landfills are a carbon storage device. Sequestering paper bags. Jest sayin’.
What about the plastic bags on rolls at the produce counters? Their environmental effect is the same as the plastic bags groceries are carried to the car in, but nobody talks about outlawing them.
I wonder if these plastic baggers on the Windsor City Council voted for this grocery price hike with paper bags on the heads or were their eyes and ears totally shut.
Windsor is the new Maxist dream city in Sonoma County with its new baggie regulations and spending millions on redevelopment.
Under the likes of councilmen Debora Fudge and Sam Salmon, Windsor has, in a very short time, driven up taxes on property and food with their latest votes.
All of this will continue as long as these socialists are relected. They will continue to drive the local economy down and jobs out of the area.
Nuts, all of them!
I do re-use my plastic bags, they make great trash bags for small trash cans.
I hear they want to charge for the use of paper bags, what a rip off.
I do use cloth bags…when I remember to take them out of the house. But as I already stated, I DO re-use the plastic ones, or put into recycle bin.
If they do away with plastic and charge for paper…time to shop elsewhere.
This is where were at with headlines for Windsor? Is this what were really worried about at this point? We are in BIG trouble!
C-mon’ now. We are just not interested in this crap.
City Councils need to address real problems and leave plastic bags,garbage cans and other nanny state nonsense regulations at the door.
It’s said that “the goal is a widespread consumer shift to reusable bags”. It sounds more like widespread propaganda,power and control.
Here is a Mockumentary on the Plastic Bag—worth watching!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw&feature=player_embedded
Why don’t we just ban people from shopping all together? Or close the parking lots and only let people shop who walk or bike to the store? Next to be banned will be paper bags or they will fine you if you don’t bring your own cloth bags!
Is it about “bags” or “jobs” I’m confused as to which four letter word is of importance in these trying economic times?
It’s beyond laughable now.
I’m seriously thinking about moving. I just want to live my life away from government interference in every aspect of my existence. No wonder all the city governments are bankrupt. ADD on all the key issues and keen focus on bag bans.
I’m going to start hording bags. Grab as many as you can out of the recycle boxes in front of stores while you still can.
When will wine bottles require a recycling deposit? We are burrowing the country with “green” glass.
The “Nanny State” crowd will be applauding this one for sure.
That’s fine… keep growing GOVERNMENT and it’s power over our lives.
As difficult as it may be to comprehend, your favorite Nanny WON’T be in charge forever!
Someday a new Nanny will be in charge and god forbid it should be some right-wing nut job who will use all this power YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM in ways that will make you cringe!
“It’s an idea whose time has come, an issue communities will really rally around,” predicted Councilwoman Cheryl Scholar.
Really Cheryl??? Hasn’t this idea been in circulation since the mid-90′s? Since Sonoma County is always at least 20 years behind the times, I guess you could consider this a forward thinking idea, even if it is pseudo-science which will have no impact on the environment whatsoever.
These same people would mandate that we all use rock crystal deodorant and Tom’s of Maine toothpaste if we let them. This whole plastic bag idea stinks of patchouli.