Portland Considers Banning Plastic Grocery Bags
I wrote on this blog back in March about the success of plastic and paper bag elimination in Ireland. The government there made it a priority to reduce the use of these bags and worked with business to make it happen. Here’s my blog post on the subject.
The campaign was incredibly successful even though it meant adding a tax penalty to both shoppers and grocery store owners to make it work. It has now become as socially unacceptable to be seen using plastic grocery bags in Ireland as it would be to be caught smoking in a maternity ward. It is not hard to switch peoples social behaviour when it is seen to be for a social good. It was made clear to the Irish that the amount of energy that went into manufacturing plastic bags, that were all destined to end up in landfills anyway, was not sustainable. Paper bags were not the answer either as they are just as wasteful of natural resources as their plastic counterpart. reusable shopping bags were the answer and the Irish bought that argument.
The Irish now pack reusable bags in their cars and offices and carry them with them on buses when they go shopping. It’s simple and effective and it is a small step toward energy independence. Portland can do it.
Tags: Environment, Green, Plastic Bag Ban, Portland
September 24th, 2008 at 8:15 am
My Skip Waugh and I am with About that Bag (www.aboutthatbag.com). Here’s my take on the topic. I really see it as a great opportunity for U.S. cities to begin to take the lead on eliminating plastic and paper bags. I’ll have to investigate a little more to see exactly what Portland is doing. May be I can pick up some pointers on how to get my own hometown of Denver to take a closer look at this issue. Right now, no one sees it as a problem. The tax penalty might be a good incentive once it gets launched.