At its meeting this morning, Santa Cruz County’s Board of Supervisors will take further steps to introduce a ban on plastic bags, at least in the unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz. It’s a significant step forward. There are an estimated 500 retailers in these areas, and most of them hand out free plastic bags to their customers. The new law would eliminate these bags for everything but frozen goods, produce and meat.
Advocates of the bill believe that paper bags are more environmentally friendly—a view that is contested by the plastic bag industry—even if they are not quite as friendly as reusable bags. The problem is that they also cost more for stores. In order to lower the burden on retailers, the proposed ordinance introduces a 10 cent fee on paper bags, which goes up to 25 cents per bag one year after the ordinance goes into effect.
The real problem is that the ordinance will not affect the incorporated cities and towns in the county, including the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Yet, these towns are most responsible for the extensive use of plastic bags in the county, which is estimated at 43 million plastic bags a year. While these bags can be recycled, according to the EPA only 5 percent are, with the rest of them going into landfills, or, more disconcerting, into Monterey Bay.
Supervisor Neal Coonerty hopes that the public reading of the ordinance today will be one step forward toward a uniform ordinance throughout the entire county. The Save the Plastic Bag Coalition has already said that it plans to fight the county’s efforts.
Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
