Why would dishonesty out of this city hall surprise anyone? This way they can pretend they acted like they cared what working Portlanders think while ignoring them.
The phrase "single use bag" is essentially a slang term for plastic bags of a certain thickness or skinner; I believe technically it's referring to bags 3 microns think or smaller; but that's a mouthful. Anyone arguing against the ban because some bags get used two or three times is also missing the point where even after those two or three uses, the bag still gets put in the trash. If we just don't allow the bags at all, we don't need to worry about how many uses people supposedly get out of bags.
i am a re-user as well, and applaud the efforts of other re-users, but there are very simple solutions to all the things we re-use these bags for. i am also a boater, and can say that the amount of plastic bags you see floating down the Willamette / Columbia is staggering.
hauling groceries home in disposable bags is just lazy, and figuring out solutions to your re-uses is simple. but the mess created by these bags is huge, and i am actually 'floored' that this is something that we didn't do years ago.
(also, while i agree that the mayor's poll was pushy, you should at least quote it correctly and check for your own type-o's)
Regardless of whether the issue is approached from an economic standpoint or an environmental one, plastic bags are a net negative for Portland. Recycling plastic bags is costly and inefficient. Economically, the region's metro recycling facilities spend upwards of $30,000 per month and 20 percent of their labor fixing the machinery jammed by the recycling of plastic bags. Environmentally, plastic bags find their way into our city's sewer systems, our river, and our watersheds. Portlanders don't encounter plastic bags in their natural environment at the level encountered in other cities and countries. Reminding people of the global economic impact is worthwhile. To learn more, check out 5Gyres.org.
Now I'm irked they spent whatever they did to poop out this "science" to support something that's obviously a good idea.
Besides hauling stuff home, they cover my bike seat when it is raining and I am not on it, and line my (small) garbage pail.
Does that make me exempt>
Seriously, Garbage Island is disturbing and something needs to be done, but is a straight-up BAN the best thing to do? Not for re-users, it isn't.
hauling groceries home in disposable bags is just lazy, and figuring out solutions to your re-uses is simple. but the mess created by these bags is huge, and i am actually 'floored' that this is something that we didn't do years ago.
(also, while i agree that the mayor's poll was pushy, you should at least quote it correctly and check for your own type-o's)
Thanks for including the poll question. I hope nobody in the media cites that poll without also quoting the question in full.
I also want to know how much the paper industry is spending on this sort of a coup.
I read the proposed law banning "single-use plastic bags" doesn't that make condoms illegal ?
The occasional poopbag! QUINTUPLE USE!
@Sarah Mirk
Does this apply to that annoying bag the Oregonian and their unsolicited weekly foodday or whate come in?