Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009
Edmonds could go with fee rather than ban on bags
Councilman wants customers to pay for sacks
EDMONDS -- Steve Bernheim calls plastic bags wasteful, stupid and harmful.
His city's effort to ban them is good, just not good enough, the Edmonds councilman said.
Instead of banning some bags, Bernheim wants to require stores to charge customers 20 cents for any bag, paper or plastic.
He doesn't care where the money goes or even if the stores keep it.
"The object is to reduce demand," Bernheim said. "Anything that's free has a lot more demand than anything that you have to pay for."
Bernheim introduced a proposal this week that would establish a 20-cent "green fee" for disposable bags from the checkout stands at all stores. Totes and other reusable bags wouldn't be charged. The proposal is copied from the law that Seattle residents will vote on in August.
Three different plastic-bag-ban proposals have already been forwarded to the City Council for discussion. The various bans would affect all retail stores, only grocery stores or a combination of both.
Edmonds officials estimate that the city's residents and businesses use about 8 million bags each year.
In Seattle, a bag charge could reduce the number of new plastic bags by more than 60 percent annually, according to estimates by Seattle Public Utilities. People and businesses now use about 360 million bags yearly, but a bag charge could save about 220 million bags, the Seattle department estimates.
A bag ban in San Francisco has reduced bag use by 60 million bags a year, which is about a third of the 180 million bags used annually before the ban, according to news reports.
A ban wasn't the city's first choice. A measure in the California Legislature blocked the city's attempts to create a bag fee, said Mark Westlund, spokesman for San Francisco's Department of Environment.
"A fee we think would have created across-the-board reductions to a bigger degree, and was probably a better solution," Westlund said.
In a city such as Edmonds, bag bans and bag fees might be unnecessary, Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said. The council is driving the plastic bag discussion, he said.
"I tend to err on the side of education and volunteerism and asking folks to do their part," Haakenson said.
Edmonds Councilman Strom Peterson has been pushing Edmonds to institute a plastic bag ban as soon as possible. Peterson is out of the country.
Peterson's proposals have generated lots of comments, both positive and negative, city officials said.
Bernheim has heard from skeptics, he said. They haven't deterred him.
"A lot of people are opposed to any regulation of plastic bags. (They say), 'It's a small thing. It won't do any good. People will go elsewhere,' " Bernheim said. "I don't agree with that. I think plastic bags and all wasteful, disposable, throw-away products are something that need our quick attention."
Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.
His city's effort to ban them is good, just not good enough, the Edmonds councilman said.
Instead of banning some bags, Bernheim wants to require stores to charge customers 20 cents for any bag, paper or plastic.
He doesn't care where the money goes or even if the stores keep it.
"The object is to reduce demand," Bernheim said. "Anything that's free has a lot more demand than anything that you have to pay for."
Bernheim introduced a proposal this week that would establish a 20-cent "green fee" for disposable bags from the checkout stands at all stores. Totes and other reusable bags wouldn't be charged. The proposal is copied from the law that Seattle residents will vote on in August.
Three different plastic-bag-ban proposals have already been forwarded to the City Council for discussion. The various bans would affect all retail stores, only grocery stores or a combination of both.
Edmonds officials estimate that the city's residents and businesses use about 8 million bags each year.
In Seattle, a bag charge could reduce the number of new plastic bags by more than 60 percent annually, according to estimates by Seattle Public Utilities. People and businesses now use about 360 million bags yearly, but a bag charge could save about 220 million bags, the Seattle department estimates.
A bag ban in San Francisco has reduced bag use by 60 million bags a year, which is about a third of the 180 million bags used annually before the ban, according to news reports.
A ban wasn't the city's first choice. A measure in the California Legislature blocked the city's attempts to create a bag fee, said Mark Westlund, spokesman for San Francisco's Department of Environment.
"A fee we think would have created across-the-board reductions to a bigger degree, and was probably a better solution," Westlund said.
In a city such as Edmonds, bag bans and bag fees might be unnecessary, Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said. The council is driving the plastic bag discussion, he said.
"I tend to err on the side of education and volunteerism and asking folks to do their part," Haakenson said.
Edmonds Councilman Strom Peterson has been pushing Edmonds to institute a plastic bag ban as soon as possible. Peterson is out of the country.
Peterson's proposals have generated lots of comments, both positive and negative, city officials said.
Bernheim has heard from skeptics, he said. They haven't deterred him.
"A lot of people are opposed to any regulation of plastic bags. (They say), 'It's a small thing. It won't do any good. People will go elsewhere,' " Bernheim said. "I don't agree with that. I think plastic bags and all wasteful, disposable, throw-away products are something that need our quick attention."
Chris Fyall: 425-339-3447, cfyall@heraldnet.com.
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