Item C: Plastic Bag Ban - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment D: Text responses from consumer plastic bag ban survey Please Do Not support a ban on plastic bags! Such a ban is ill conceived, costly to both business and consumers and attempts to address a non-existent problem. The plastic bag ban is focused on “single use” bags. In my household and virtually all of those I am acquainted with these bags are far from single use, and in fact often used many, many times over before being disposed of . We use them to: carry lunches to school, wrap up leftovers in the fridge, line trash baskets, pick up dog waste, store Christmas decorations (some are more then a decade old), collect trash when walking and many other things. In all cases the bags are used again once they bring in the groceries. Banning these bags would cost our household money in purchasing replacement bags for similar purposes. A ban on plastic bags would do nothing to reduce waste in these cases, it would merely force me to pay for what I had previously received for free. The bags are hugely convenient. They are lightweight and strong and with the loops and small size, I can carry literally 3 times the amount I could with paper or even cloth bags. Often I can manage a single trip in the house with these bags where I might need to take 2 or 3 trips with a paper bag. Given today’s economy this is not the time to pass new legislation which increases costs to both businesses and consumers, ultimately increasing the cost of living. The manufacturing of these bags creates jobs as well. If you are concerned with a future problem of “bag pollution” then put your efforts towards supporting increased recycling efforts and bio-technology which would enable the bags to break down rapidly when exposed to the elements. Both of these solutions create jobs without passing along costs for business and consumers. I spent much time this past March walking on several beaches on the Oregon coast covering nearly 15 miles of coast line during the Spring break. During this entire time I saw no plastic bags on the beaches, except of course the few I kept in my pocket or hands to collect trash and items of interest. If these bags were banned it would cost me money to purchase a beg to collect trash! The plastic bag ban is a poor idea and the wrong approach to an insignificant problem. Please do not support this legislation. Banning plastic bags is not necessary. Increasing awareness of recycling and resue would be better. People would then use more paper bags which is a worse environemntal option. I would fully support a plastic bag ban. People will fuss at first but they will get used to it. We need to change how we live, and Bring Your Own Bag will become the new norm. I think the risk of banning the bag, or anything for that matter is that we (the recycling community) may alienate our natural allies. Americans don't like being told to do or not to do anything. We should educate shoppers about why plastic bags are bad, then put the owner of Market of Choice out on the front lines to tell everyone how successful taking them out of his stores has been and let people choose the right thing to do. I SUPPORT THE BAN OF SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS! I think people should be encouraged to use fabric bags, however in a city with lots of rain and lots of non-drivers I don't think the option of plastic should be removed. I love the idea of a ban on plastic bags... I'm infuriated with stores that instruct their checkers not to offer a choice between plastic and paper. Stores also need to provide a strong motivator (25 cents or so) to encourage customers to use reusable bags.