Ban the bags
Despite scary talk from manufacturers, we can get along with paper or cloth
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A bipartisan effort to pass a statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags has attracted strenuous opposition from — you guessed it — plastic grocery bag manufacturers. Oregonians should take their talking points with a bagful of salt.
Sen. Jason Atkinson, R-Central Point, has a track record of supporting environmentally friendly legislation, and he deserved credit for teaming up with Sen. Mike Hass, D-Beaverton, to cosponsor Senate Bill 536.
The measure would outlaw single-use plastic bags at grocery checkout stands across the state, and impose a minimum 5-cent fee to customers who want paper bags. Shoppers could avoid the fee by bringing their own reusable bags, something many Oregonians already are doing.
The idea is to prevent the bags from winding up on beaches, along roadsides and anywhere else the wind carries them. Oregonians use 1 billion bags every year, and not all of them make into landfills.
The measure has reasonable exemptions for pharmacies and restaurants, and low-income Oregonians would not be subject to the 5-cent fee.
The grocery store industry supports the bill because the alternative is a patchwork of local ordinances. Some Oregon cities have endorsed the bill and say they will enact local bans if it does not pass.
The plastic bag industry, however, is spreading scary stories about lead in reusable bags imported from China and deadly bacteria in bags that don't get cleaned.
Consumers are perfectly capable of choosing cloth bags that can be washed and avoiding brightly painted ones if they are worried about lead — although it's hard to see how wrapped and packaged food could pick up lead.
A bag manufacturer opposing the bill stresses that grocery bags are not made from petroleum — they're made from natural gas. Pick your fossil fuel.
The industry also argues that Oregon should lead the way by recycling plastic bags rather than banning them.
Setting up a recycling system capable of collecting a billion bags a year and getting consumers to participate is hardly realistic. Banning the bags is simpler, far more effective and not particularly burdensome to shoppers.
Another consideration is the lack of economic benefit to Oregon of supporting plastic bag manufacturers, who don't operate here. Paper and pulp producers do.
Adjusting to life without plastic grocery bags might be inconvenient at first for some shoppers, but the inconvenience would be minor. This is an example of a major step forward made possible by many people making one small, relatively painless change.
This state has a tradition of leading the country in environmentally friendly laws, from bike paths to returnable bottles. Oregonians should add eliminating plastic grocery bags to that list.
