The Virginian-Pilot
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Shoppers on the Outer Banks and the surrounding mainland won't have to pay for each plastic bag that holds their groceries. In fact, the bags might not be an option at all.
The la test version of a bill proposed by state Sen. Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, would ban distribution of the plastic bags at large retail stores in Dare, Hyde and Currituck counties. Recycled paper bags would still be permitted. Basnight, the Senate leader, had proposed charging 10 to 25 cents for each bag as a way to discourage use, but county officials didn't like the idea, calling it a tax.
The measure overwhelmingly passed the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill would apply only to retail outlets larger than 5,000 square feet or those that are part of a retail chain with five or more stores in the state. Each retailer would have to display a sign saying the county discourages use of single-use bags as a way to protect the environment. It also would tell customers that if they don't have a reusable bag, a 100 percent recycled paper bag will be furnished.
By weaning the public from using plastic while promoting the use of reusable bags, Basnight says the barrier islands could regain some of the "cleanness" for which they are known.
"I felt like it may set us apart - in a good way," Basnight said. "We're getting a lot of attention."
San Francisco banned the bags in 2007, but no state has outlawed them.
To become law in North Carolina, the bill must be approved in the state House of Representatives and signed by the governor.
"I'm for it," said Marlene Hein of Colington Harbour as she loaded plastic bags filled with groceries into her vehicle. "I think it's good for the environment, and I wouldn't mind having the cloth bags. We did that years ago. It would be better than the plastic things. They break."
For Abbey Reibel, visitor services specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a ban on the bags couldn't come soon enough. Reibel organizes trash pickups along the highways surrounding Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, and the plastic bags are one of the biggest contributors to the volume of litter.
" They deteriorate from the sun," she said. "So all of a sudden, what was one piece of litter becomes 50 pieces of litter. Obviously, they're terrible for wildlife."
Harris Teeter, which has three stores on the Outer Banks, is monitoring the plastic bag situation, spokeswoman Jennifer Thompson said.
"Until shoppers develop a routine of bringing their reusable bags back, we do not want to discontinue offering plastic bags," she said in an e-mail.
The store offers a choice among plastic, 100 percent recycled paper, or reusable bags that can be purchased or carried in, she wrote.
Food Lion, with five stores on the Outer Banks, introduced a bigger reusable bag for Earth Day, spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said. The u se of reusable bags is "strongly encouraged," she wrote in an e-mail. Since April 2008, more than 700,000 reusable bags have been sold or given away to customers, she said.
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com
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Banning Plastic Bags
Maybe somebody in the N.C. legislature should do a little more research:
http://www.iowaenvironmentallawupdate.com/2009/07/articles/going-green/sure-plastic-bags-are-better-but-is-that-the-real-question/
There are valid
There are valid reasoning’s to both sides of this controversy. I won't chastise anyone here for their views, like some others have, because I feel this isn't a one way or the other way issue. No one wants to pollute our environment, including with plastic bags and in some areas plastic bags can be a real problem. In some areas it is not as much of a problem.
So I ask, is passing a bill into law that is Target County and Target Business size specific a valid, reasonable way to deal with the issue?
Probably less than 15% of businesses that use plastic bags are over 5,000 sq. ft. Of course they distribute more plastic bags on a store-to-store basis, but my point is the law doesn't resolve the problem, at best it lessens the impact of plastic by a small percentage. Consider the analogy, what are we going to have now, 50% less of a plastic bag problem, or 50% more of a paper bag problem?
Well, most fast food and
Well, most fast food and many restaurants have never used plastic. According ot your theory, we are all eating roaches already.
Folks, when offered, please refuse the plastic.
To Richardm I would say, "go
To Richardm
I would say, "go hug a tree," but there won't be many more, as we cut down the trees for paper bags, which was "one" of the arguments for the use of plastics. By the way, we live on the Atlantic (that's a moot argument).
How much slower will lines be due to paper bagging? this was an issue with the stores and one of their reasoning so they coulf cut costs to consumers and hire less people. From experience, I can say that the paper bags come in pallets, not cardboard boxes of 5000. More storage is needed and pest control.
The "fact" that (as Evan J stated) a soda bottle is many times more impervious to the ground than bags. What about all the department stores? or the under 5000 sq. foot building owner? If Marc was green, he would have removed the sand bags, and said NO plastics at all everywhere.
The facts are these bags
The facts are these bags have created a problem. Farmers have attempted similiar legislation in the past due to the litter in their fields and the resulting damage. You can go to Youtube and see the miles wide mass of plastic floating in the Pacific. As another poster pointed out, they are created by using fossil fuels. The enviromental cost is too high. Recycling of paper products has evolved since this product was introduced. I personally use reuseable bags and empty bboxes when shopping at stores. The non use of the bags has never been an issue. I have never used a bagger. In fact, the baggers are employed still. The arguments below are false and selfish. Your perceived need for convenience does not trump our need to protect the environment. Your reasoning is flawed as well. Your touting higher unemployment as a RESULT of the ban, but complain about the prices to hire the imaginary baggers. Get real.
Nope
Just because you feel you are not affected does not make it insignificant.
That statement was from actual science, a rare thing in politics. Landfill use by plastic bags is less than one percent, they require about 1/7th the energy to make and transport than the same capacity paper bag, they are often re-used as trash bin liners replacing the need to more bags just for that, and they are recyclable. A couple 50 gram 2-liter soda bottle contain 20 times more plastic than the 5 gram bag used to carry them.
Observations Cont'd
(4)...food borne illnesses, as cloth/fabric holds more germs than any material. How does one keep this bag sterile? or continual storage. I shop for 5 people, over $200 a week: how many of these cloth bags will I need. Forget about bringing home roach littered boxes.
(5) One last thing: when did state governments supercede local governments on specific issues which directly and solely affect the people in the county, without a vote? It is a separate issue if its effects have ramifications on/in all of the state's counties, but this is a specific ban, on three (3) specific counties, targeted on specific square footage grocers. The local county governments should have been involved and its citizens.
Plus, I do live here, this will drive up prices in stores, which consequently will happen in a county which has the highest unemployment rate in the state. Good thinking Marc.
Observations
Some quick observations:
(1) The food grocers will now be required to hire baggers, as they once had. This was one of the big reasons for plastics in the first place (quicker lines, boy this will be crazy in the summer). If they need to hire more people, that means less revenue, less profits, higher prices, or more lower wage jobs which noone wants (i.e. foreign employment).
(2) Do stores such as Belk now have to comply? if not, this is unfair and biased towards grocers. If so, do consumers of clothing outlets now need to bring their own bags into stores? How do stores stop shoplifting with this in place? Do they hire more security? once again leading to cost related management/products.
(3) Will restaurants now have to keep paper bags for "to go" items? If so, will the health Dept. allow them to do so, due to roach infestations and breading grounds in these bags (its common knowledge roaches love paper or cardboard). This may lead into higher costs (i.e. exterminations)
(4) Is cutting down more trees environmentally sound? This was the entire fight for plastics. I can honestly say, I will never carry a bag in and out of a store, and reuse it, especially when it comes t
We all need to do it
I think what N.C. is doing is absolutely great. This is a major problem, and all problems get resolved one step at a time. Plastic bags are created by the use of oil. If we can get rid of plastic bags, we can save oil, which in turn helps the gas prices.
I go into 7-11 to get a candy bar and they always ask if I want a bag. Who needs a bag for a candy bar, or gallon of milk. Everyone should buy a bag from a re-usable bag from a store and use that, or do what BJs or Sams does, use boxes to carry your stuff in. Even if we don't have a bill, everyone should do their part to not use plastic bags. Save the earth for your kids, and grandkids, and so on. Don't be short-sighted and only think of yourself. LET'S SAVE OUR PLANET!
Stupid part Deuce
Does no one remember that we SWITCHED to plastic bags to save the enviroment? Now they are the problem? Remember when paper was bad cause it killed trees? More and more obvious this is not about the enviroment everyday.
A related story -
First you wanted a dog, so I got you a dog.
Then you wanted to have a baby, so we had a baby.
Then the dog ate the baby, and now you want me to get rid of the DOG?
whine whine whine