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City thinking of plastic bag ban
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Madison could be the next city to adopt a worldwide trend of banning plastic grocery bags.
The city’s Commission on the Environment discussed ideas to decrease plastic bag and plastic water bottle use at a meeting Monday evening.
China, Rwanda, Eritrea, South Africa and the city of San Francisco have already instilled a ban on plastic bags, with Ireland, Australia and many African countries currently considering a ban or tax on non-biodegradable plastic bags.
Whole Foods Market announced its ban on plastic grocery bags in December, to take effect by April 2008.
“If China can do it, Madison can do it,” said Bruce Dickie, a member of the environmental commission.
Ann Arbor, Mich., and San Francisco have banned selling plastic water bottles at public events.
The commission questioned how to approach a plastic bag and water bottle ban in a realistic, practical manner, agreeing that a flat-out plastic bottle and bag ban is not their goal.
“I think we need to put this in perspective,” said Roger Bannerman, an environmental specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and commission member. “What are we targeting?”
Plastic bags used for carrying groceries are non-biodegradable and do not fit into the list of recyclable plastics. Several studies have proved toxins from certain types of plastic bottles contaminate contents, making them harmful to consume.
“I always laugh at people who drink their pure water out of plastic, and say, ‘Wow, that’s really pure,’” said Mike Rewey, an environmental commission member.
The commission addressed the idea to ban plastic water bottle sales at public events, while spreading education about alternatives to bottled water, like reusable water bottles.
“There is an alternative. We have tap water, and we don’t have tap Coca-Cola or tap iced tea,” said Jon Standridge, the chair of the Commission on the Environment. “To me that is one of the reasons we are picking on bottled water and not other bottled products.”
Members considered including the plastic bags used for fruits and vegetables at grocery stores in a ban, although San Francisco did not ban fruit and vegetable bags in its law.
Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, asked the commission members how they could go about crafting effective legislation for some sort of plastic ban.
“I’m really sort of worried about how you can actually craft a law that would be meaningful,” Palm said. “How can you properly phrase something in legal terms and make it forceful?”
At the Commission on the Environment’s previous meeting, members asked George Dreckmann, the Madison recycling coordinator to craft a report about recycling for a presentation to the commission in February.
Standridge said the commission will revisit some sort of ban on plastic and decide how to move forward after Dreckmann’s presentation.
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Welcome to Planet Madison, folks.
Ban plastic bags! They’re made out of oil. Oil=non-renewable. File this under “duh”.
Reusable Cotton Totes are so much better than plastic or paper bags anyway- they hold twice as much, are much easier to carry and make a statement! Lots of places to get them on the web- try www.sackswithattitude.com for some with funny sayings and holiday bags- they also carry bio poop bags for dogs-they usually have a sale or offer free shipping! I switched a while ago, I keep them in my car- people always want to know where they can get some too and a lot of stores give discounts or money back if you use your own-
So how would you get water at an event then? Would they let you bring your own reusable bottle in?
There should be a law