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"I hate plastic bags, and I'm prepared to vote tonight to eliminate plastic bags or brown paper bags — whatever it takes to get rid of them," said Ald. Ann Rainey.
The proposal remains in its infancy, and the logistics of how a ban would be implemented aren't clear. City officials plan to meet with small-business owners, national chain store representatives and residents to discuss the possible bag ban before revisiting the topic at a May 23 committee meeting.
Any restrictions would put Evanston in league with an expanding group of jurisdictions that have taken a variety of tacks toward coaxing shoppers to tote reusable bags.
San Francisco banned plastic bags outright in 2007, and a handful of other California municipalities have followed. North Carolina outlawed plastic bags on the islands of its Outer Banks, and Washington, D.C., levied a 5-cent tax on paper and plastic bags.
The city of Chicago requires retailers that offer plastic bags to reuse or recycle them.
No state has yet enacted a statewide ban, fee or tax on bags, but at least 11 states this year have proposed legislation on the topic, said Douglas Shinkle of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Bills governing bags have been shot down in various states in recent years, he said.
"This is a relatively fertile issue," he said. "Thus far, (restrictions on bags) haven't been successful, but who knows if that may change."
THIS IS RIDICULOUS! These people just need to relax! WHO CARES WHAT KIND OF BAG YOU USE WHEN YOU SHOP! This is America and people should have a choice on what bags they should and shouldnt be able to use. I know my family reuses plastic and paper bags for other things like school lunches and we recycle the paper and plastic bags when we are done with them. I am sure other people do the same thing too. These people just need to relax.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Ryan
This is not important at all in my opinion. I could really care less about paper or plastic bags. I'm not that type of person who recycles my water bottles at lunch all the time. Sure it may help the environment, but honestly I could care less about the type bags people use on their trips to the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteMatt Ferrera
i think that this is a good idea because the bags used cause a lot of waste. i think it would be a drastic change and people would hate it. It shouldn't be a sudden thing. More promotion should go into the reusable bags and stores should give some out for free or give discounts for using them to give people more of an incentive. i think eventually groceries need to stop being bagged with plastic and paper bags. it's ridiculous the amount of bags people use and then throw away.
ReplyDeleteEmily Carton
I can see why they want to pass this law; once a couple years past people would be used to bringing their own bags to the store and it wouldn't end up making a difference. They're just trying to help clean up our environment which is awesome. Earth's environment obviously has problems and this is just one step in the right direction. I think it's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteEd Banderowicz
I understand why they want to pass this law however it is a little too much government intrusion. Instead of not letting people use plastic or paper bags they should give insentives to people who dont use them. Stores like Aldi are already doing this by not having bags and making customers bring in their own boxes. This is not that much of an inconvienence for the shopper and the store saves money, too.
ReplyDeleteLaura Herchenbach
I think it is a great idea. This will help the environment and reserve resources for future generations. I think this is a great idea cause several stores like aldi have rules like this. They dont use bags. instead they use boxes and you also get a discount if you bring in your own reusable bags, and own boxes. This new law would be a huge benefit because all paper and plastic bags just go to the landfills eventually and using new laws like this will help reduce polution. MICHAEL PATRONE-ON-ICE
ReplyDeleteThis is a smal issue. I dont see a big deal if you use paper or plastic. If i had to pick i would want the paper bags though. the paper bags can be burned and broken down faster and in an eco-friendly way.
ReplyDeleteJC Pawlak
I don't think it's a big deal whether you use plastic or paper bags. I reuse plastic bags all of the time and it is easily disposed of. As long as it's recycled I don't care how it's used.
ReplyDelete-Matt Clancy
I think that this law is important and should be passed. The government needs to start taking action and responsibility for the environment and this is a step in the right direction. They clearly aren't taking this lightly, because they are taking to the store owners about the implications, so they are clearly thinking this through.
ReplyDeleteAmy Drangines
I can see why a lot of people would think that banning plastic and paper bags would be unimportant. But we do need to take steps toward bettering our environment. Even little things like banning certain bags can have a large effect on the world. I would vote for this to become a law.
ReplyDelete-Jack Doyle
This seems kind of obnoxious and a hassle. I know sometimes my mom will run to the grocery store coming from somewhere else and not have the necessary bags. Granted I do see it is an environmental issue but doing it so suddenly seems impractical.
ReplyDeleteMichele DiNella
It is a good idea to try and help the enviroment, but they are going through to much trouble. If they ban it great, if they dont no one is going to really care. The green people use their own bags already to go green so who cares.
ReplyDeleteTommy Miller
Who cares? Its a bag it doesnt matter what you put your groceries in. People are making this a way bigger deal than it should be. It would be cheaper to just bring your own bag or maybe even a wagon. IF it helps the environment and it wont cause that much of a problem to people's everyday lives, then why not get rid of them.
ReplyDeleteLuke Zizzo
This issue doesn't concern me at all. Between papaer and plastic bags I don't care at all. If it helps the environment then go for, but otherwise I don't care.
ReplyDelete-Alex Kramer
I think this is pretty rediculous. Just let me use whatever bags I want. My family uses those bags from the grocery store for other little uses around the house so its's not like they go completely to waste. We have other things to worry about than this.
ReplyDelete-andrew stolzer
To me this is not a big problem but i know if sarah heard me saying that i would be dead. i understand that it important to some people. i understand that it will help the environment and it is a good idea. but i just dont care.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Gallagher
I think that a ban on plastic or paper bags would not help the environment that much. However, I think that it is not that big of a deal to bring reusable bags to a store, so either way people should not have a problem if the ban passes.
ReplyDeletePatrick Mulroy
I think it is a pretty good idea to reduce waste but Evanston would have to distribute tote bags to the whole city for free when the bill is first passed to gain support for it. Eliminating paper and plastic bags will reduce waste a lot, I always see plastic bags on the side of streets.
ReplyDeletePhil Gross
This is awesome! people should start gettin into being environmentally friendly because down the road, our earth is gonna be terrible. If we cut all of plastic and paper bags, it will do everyone good!
ReplyDeleteMikey Schostok
This is a good idea. If you really want people to be environmentally friendly then don't give them any option but to be environmentally friendly. Make people bring reusable bags or carry their groceries out by hand.
ReplyDeleteMichael Varney
i think this is a good idea to try and cut down on trash. I always see plastic bags on the street and i know that when they decay it can be harmful! I think that they city officials need to distribute the reusable bags to the people instead of expecting the people to get their own however if the bill is passed.
ReplyDeleteShawn Wolf-Lewis
Rachel Lee-
ReplyDeleteI am all for helping the enviroment, however i dont thik that this will do that big of a job to help it. Even if more people switced to paper, there will still be those stubborn people who want to use plastic. Especially if the goverment is trying to make them use paper, it will make them want to use plastic even more.
I think that this is a very interesting concept to eliminate something most all easily overlook. My only question is how are people going to feel about having to carry in many bags of lunch chips without them being contained in one, easily carried container; they'll fall and carrying groceries will be much more difficult. I suppose some could use those reusable bags, but those can harbor bacteria. If I were that city's board, I would just offer incentives/more places to drop off unwanted plastic/paper bags versus outlawing them completely.
ReplyDeleteI like this law, we need to start changing our impact on the enviornment its sad that people cant even go for a friendly recycleable bag instead of plastic or paper. If this is the way people think about our enviornment we have no hope for the future. Seriously people cant even lift a finger in order to help the enviornment just because we enjoy the convienince of plastic and paper for a moment? what do we do when were done unloading the groceries? throw them away?
ReplyDeleteJax Sirotiak
I think this law if passed could be very effective because it will help our invironment. We need to be more concious about this kind of stuff. Hopefully this will make people more aware about what is going on.
ReplyDelete