Item 4: Ordinance on Suspension of Paper Bag Pass-Through Charge

Home Browse Search

You can help spread the truth by sharing our infographic with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. Speak up today! * 5/14/13 – email to Mayor, City Manager, and City Council Dear City Council Members, I have recently been informed that several of you would like to revisit the fee associated with the recent bag ban. I imagine you have been hearing a lot of negative feedback about the fee, and I am sure you will continue to hear this feedback for some time. It will no doubt take that time for people to adjust. But why is the fee important? First and foremost, it helps local businesses offset the higher cost of paper bags. The paper bags can cost from 6 to 12 cents a piece. If the ban stays in effect without a fee, local businesses will be negatively impacted. Also, one key element in considering the environmental impact of a consumption-related decision is the embodied energy in a product. Paper bags, because they take more energy to produce and ship, actually have more embodied energy than plastic bags. If the fee is not maintained to encourage use of reusable bags, then the bag ban will have done very little to help avoid the environmental cost associated with single use bags. I urge you to keep the fee for paper bags. It is better for local businesses and better for the environment. Many cities have passed bag bans without fees. Eugene has an opportunity with its bag ban to be a leader. Please keep the fee. Regards, Clayton Stilwell Oregon League of Conservation Voters Oregon Leadership in Sustainability * From: Diana Bus [mailto:dbus@efn.org] Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 7:50 AM To: *Eugene Mayor, City Council, and City Manager Subject: 5 cent bag fee Good morning. What another beautiful spring day we are having. I just read this mornings paper and saw that the council may reconsider the 5 cent fee for paper bags. I think that's a great idea. I strongly support using reusable bags, but i also think the 5 cent fee is quite a burden. Eliminating the fee would certainly would make it easier for the folks running the cash registers as they wouldn't have to wait to close out the receipt until all the groceries were bagged. And most retailers had already included the costs associated with bags into their overall costs. By eliminating this fee the council could show both support for using reusable bags, but also streamline the process a great deal. Thanks for listening. Diana Bus