From The MNB Archives

Seattle is considering a 20-cent “green fee” on all disposable shopping bags handed out at the city’s supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores. The proposal was made yesterday by Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin, and also calls for a ban on foam containers in the food service industry. If adopted by the City Council, the waste prevention measures would take effect Jan. 1, 2009.

Nickels and Conlin said the bag fee and foam ban will cut down on waste, reduce the use of environmentally harmful plastics and cut the production of greenhouse gases, and is a response to a recent city-sponsored report determining that both paper and plastic are harmful to the environment.

“The answer to the question ‘paper or plastic’ is neither - both harm the environment. Every piece of plastic ever made is still with us. The best way to handle a ton of waste is not to create it,” said Nickels. “This proposal is all about forming new habits. Taking a reusable bag to grocery stores and pharmacies is a simple thing that has an enormous impact.”

According to a statement released by the city, “Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) estimates 360 million disposable bags are used in the city every year, most made of plastic. Almost 75 percent of these come from the city’s 575 grocery, drug and convenience stores (out of a total 3,600 retail and restaurant businesses). While Seattleites have a good record of recycling paper bags, most plastic ends up in landfills. But paper bags will also be subject to the fee because, taking into account the environmental costs of logging and shipping, they are actually worse for the planet.

“The green fee is intended to encourage and promote the use of reusable shopping bags. The city will set aside $1 million to distribute these bags and promote their advantages. Retailers will keep 5-cents of every bag to cover administrative costs. Retailers grossing less than $1 million annually will keep the entire 20-cent fee … SPU expects to collect about $10 million annually from the green fee. About $2 million will be spent to promote the switch to reusable bags, including the distribution of free bags to low income families and those on fixed incomes. The rest of the money, about $8 million, will go toward waste prevention and recycling programs and environmental education programs.”

Within hours of the proposal being made, PCC Natural Markets issued a statement endorsing the measures. The company noted that it “eliminated plastic shopping bags from its eight stores in October 2007 and reduced the price on reusable totes — selling them at cost — to encourage shoppers to shift to reusable totes and bring their own bags for shopping. PCC also launched a ‘Think Reuse’ campaign.

“The response from PCC shoppers has been overwhelmingly positive. Within a month of the elimination of plastic bags, use of reusable totes increased 48 percent. More than half of PCC shoppers now routinely reuse their own bags. PCC also has been seeking an alternative to replace plastic foam meat trays and is considering several options.”

PCC CEO Tracy Wolpert said: “Most people can understand that disposable shopping bags — whether paper or plastic — are not free for us as a business nor are they free to us as a society. Their very manufacture consumes resources and creates toxic pollutants that are unhealthy for people and the environment as a whole. Seattle’s proposed policy reflects the growing awareness about the impacts of single-use bags and will help to enable shoppers to act on their good intentions.”