In April 2013, the county of San Mateo, Calif. where my grandparents live, implemented a Reusable Bag Ordinance that required retailers to keep “complete and accurate records of the purchase and sale of any recycled paper bag or reusable 2.25 mil plastic bag by the retail establishment.” The ordinance includes a 10-cent minimum charge for a reusable paper or plastic bag. On Jan. 1, this charge increases to 25 cents per bag.
Has this charge for bags worked? Yes. In October 2014, the San Mateo County of Environmental Health published these results from surveys conducted nine to 13 months after the ordinance implementation. Since its implementation, there was a 162 percent increase of people bringing their own bags to the store as well as a 66 percent decrease in people buying the plastic bag that they previously received for free. And retailers experienced a decrease in operating costs because they had to order 84 percent less bags for their customers (Source: smchealth.org/BagBan).
As a student at Western Washington University in Bellingham, I notice that most people carry reusable bags into grocery and retail stores. The city of Bellingham unanimously passed a ban on plastic bags with a 5-cent fee on paper bags in 2011. According to a study by Environment Washington Research and Policy Center in December 2012, about 30 million plastic bags were used each year prior to implementation of the ban. In order to determine the success of the ban, a survey completed in Bellingham in October 2012 showed: most of the consumers reported that the bag ban prompted them to bring their own bags more often; all the supermarket employees interviewed noticed more customers bringing their own bags; 67 percent of the consumers surveyed agreed with the bag ban; and 61 percent of the businesses agreed with the bag ban (Source: “Cutting Down on Plastic; Bag Bans Prove Popular and Successful” Environment Washington, 2012).
An important benefit of a plastic bag ban is that it raises a person’s awareness to take responsibility for their actions. In addition to refusing plastic and paper bags, one can make more sustainable choices such as carrying reusable water bottles, composting, and using public transportation. As the President of the Students for Renewable Energy at WWU, our group is working hard to encourage the Foundation Board to divest from fossil fuels.
I look forward to the Kirkland City Council joining Bellingham, Seattle and many other Washington communities in passing an ordinance supporting a plastic bag ban with a fee on paper bags. May 2015 be the year for reusable bags in my Kirkland hometown.
Marika Weber, Kirkland
