Could Florida Just Say No to Paper and Plastic?
No bag for you! Department of Environmental Protection proposes ban on paper and plastic bags
Getty Images/Uppercut
Better get your hands on a few of these.
Could a city where recycling bins - not to mention the beaches -- are frequently used as alternative garbage cans be the first in the nation to ban paper and plastic bags?
That's exactly what the state's Department of Environmental Protection wants, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The proposal calls for a 5-year phase-out of bags -- which Floridians used over five billion of in 2003 -- provided everywhere from Publix to your local dry cleaner (items such as newspaper bags and carryout containers would be exempt). During that period, an escalating fee starting at five cents a bag would be implemented.
"There won't be any problem finding reusable bags," Ron Henricks, the DEP recycling-program environmental manager told the Sentinel. "What we are hoping is that, as the fee ramps up over the years, people are going to find it as more incentive to use reusable bags."
Or they could just revolt.
"I don't think it's something the government should be involved with," said Michael House.
But supermarkets such as Whole Foods have already banned plastic bags, and, according to regional marketing director Russ Benblatt, 20 to 30 percent of customers now bring reusable bags.
"At the very beginning ... there were a few people who, once they got their groceries home, would reuse the plastic bags, and those were the ones who weren't too thrilled," Benblatt said. "But if that resulted in 2 percent of our customers being unhappy, that's probably a high estimate."
Of course, using Whole Foods as an example of environmentally friendly practices - well, you're preaching to the green choir.
The real challenge will be enforcing such a law at the mom-and-pop bodegas.
Hendricks' philosophy is that the combination of easily accessible recyclable bags and the fees will incite people to decide to go green, while Rick McAllister, president of the Florida Retail Federation, said that the best approach isn't a ban but to make an effort to "get consumers to change their behavior," which he says businesses have already started promoting by setting up recycling cans for bags and giving away and selling reusable totes.
The proposal could hit the legislature as early as next year. Meanwhile, we'll start looking for something else to scoop our cat litter into.
Posted Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 - 12:57 PM EST
