Seattle Bag Ban Will Go To Ballot
The City of Seattle, heralded in environmental circles for its planned phase-out of styrofoam containers in restaurants and proposed fees on disposable shopping bags, will let the voters decided if the bag fees should go forward. Citizens and paid workers gathered well over the 14,000+ signatures needed to get the ban on the next eligible city election, which will not take place until the August 2009 primaries. The fee levy will be held in abeyance until the voters decide.
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Passed in late July by the Seattle City Council and set to being January 1, 2009, the ban would levy a 20¢ fee on all bags used in grocery, convenience, and drugstores as a method of reducing landfill contributions. The city plans to give all households at least one reusable shopping bag to promote the legislation and encourage a smooth transition. The petition does not affect the additional legislation that will eventually eliminate styrofoam containers, then plastic containers and plastic utensils from restaurants in 2010.
Opponents of the legislation, led by the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag tax, a group formed by the American Chemistry Council, 7-11, and the Washington Food Industry, claim the fees put an undue burden on the poor in tough economic times, and also claim that recycling is a much more efficient way of reducing this targeted waste. The Coalition faces criticism by citizens who claimed that the signature gatherers, many paid by the ACC, lied to gain support.
