Plastic, paper... or no bag?

The Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee of the city of Laredo has proposed an ordinance to ban/restrict the use of plastic shopping bags by local retailers.  Although, a final version of the proposed ordinance has yet to be drafted, preliminary discussion has ranged from complete elimination of all plastic and paper bags to restriction of plastic bags for large retailers only. There is no arguing that loose plastic bags are an eyesore and can have a long-term effect on the environment, but is banning them our only option?  Even further -- should this ban extend to paper bags too since they demand more energy and felling of trees for their production?

I think not.  Banning plastic and/or paper shopping bags will only result in an added cost to retailers -- which, in turn will inevitably be passed on to consumers.  This is bound to have a negative effect on a retail industry that is over 50% dependent on sales to Mexican shoppers.  Not to mention the impact on the local community, a large percentage of which hovers at or below poverty level.  Certainly Laredo must take steps to control the trash situation and protect the environment, but there are certainly a variety of options available that can improve our quality of life and not necessarily "throw the baby out with the bath water." A recycling campaign, as an example, comes to mind.

Let's remember that if it's the environment and Laredo's image we are concerned about, ridding ourselves of plastic bags will not solve the problem.  There is loose styrofoam, plastic containers, newspaper plastic bags (or are these part of the banned list too) and a number of other things that will still haunt us.  Let's have our public agencies join forces with the private sector to organize a campaign that addresses this problem.  We must learn to pick up after ourselves and teach others (including visitors) to be mindful of our community.

LAREDO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PLASTIC BAG SURVEY

The Laredo Chamber of Commerce decided to conduct a survey to gauge its membership's response in regard to the proposed ordinance.  The survey was conducted electronically with the use of services by constantcontact.com.  A total of 1,412 e-mail addresses were contacted via the survey.  193 responses were recorded a 13.7% response level. The results are nonscientific.  (The instrument used for the survey does not permit an e-mail address to submit more than 1 response, however.)

The survey form consisted of seven statements.  Respondents were asked to rate each statement on a scale from 1 to 4 (1 denoting Strongly Agree and 4 denoting Strongly Disagree).  A fifth option offered respondents a No Comment alternative.  Following is a breakdown of responses.

CONCLUSIONS OF SURVEY

Results of the survey, in general terms, indicate that whereas respondents do feel that plastic bags create a trash nuisance and are bad for the environment, they disagree with the passing of an ordinance to ban all types of bags including paper.  The majority of respondents also disagreed with the concept of having shoppers buy non disposable bags.  The majority of respondents favor a community-wide campaign, other than a ban, to control the disposal of bags. Check out the complete survey results by clicking Download plastic_bag_ordinance_survey.pdf .