Letter of the Week: Requesting a Plastic Bag Ban

Dear _______,

As one of _____'s regular customers, I am writing to ask you to change your policies regarding single-use plastic bags, and to join in with Ikea, Costco, Whole Foods and other retailers either by 1) offering a $.05 or $.10 credit per bag for customers who bring their own and/or 2) introducing a .15 cent fee on single-use plastic bags. You'll both save money and make your business more environmentally responsible!

Introduced just 25 years ago, single-use plastic bags have become environmental menaces. They are now consumed at an unprecedented rate of about 1 million per minute! These bags often wind up in waterways or on the landscape, becoming eyesores and worse, and degrading water and soil as they break down into tiny toxic bits. Their manufacture, transportation and disposal use large quantities of non-renewable resources and release equally large amounts of global warming gases. Ecologically, hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year when they mistake plastic bags for food. And paper bags, unless made of 100% recycled content, have been proven to have as many negative impacts as plastic ones.

It doesn't have to be this way—and it's changing all over the world! The Irish government, as one of many examples, introduced (in cooperation with retailers) a plastic bag tax that has slashed consumption over 90% and raised $9.6 million for environmental and waste management projects.

Charging for disposable bags and rewarding the use of reusable bags works. It saves consumer dollars, saves retailer dollars, saves the environment, and promotes cooperation between public and private sectors. Won't you please consider getting on board? I would love to help with this in any way I can. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely, ________

Dear ________,

Disposable single-use plastic bags, introduced just 25 years ago, are currently consumed at an alarming global rate of 500 billion per year. As a concerned citizen and constituent of ___________, I am writing to ask you to consider introducing legislature that taxes these bags, a solution proven effective around the world.

Single-use disposable bags present an insidious threat to our environment on multiple levels. They often wind up in waterways or on the landscape, becoming eyesores and degrading water and soil as they break down into tiny toxic bits. Their manufacture, transportation and disposal use large quantities of non-renewable resources and release equally large amounts of global-warming gases. Ecologically, hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year when they eat plastic bags mistaken for food.

These problems can be mitigated by simply advocating—and legislating—the consumption of fewer disposable bags and the use or reusable ones. One easy way to do this is by charging for their usage at the point of purchase. This was successfully done in Ireland where the government introduced a plastic bag tax (PlasTax) that has slashed consumption over 90% and raised $9.6 million for environmental and waste management projects. Retailers were happy, as well: they both saved the costs of bag purchases and improved their public image by doing the right thing.

Please consider legislation for a PlasTax here in our home state. It creates a foundation for both consumer responsibility and market-based solutions to environmental problems. And it's an easy, win-win solution to a problem that has gotten out of control.

Sincerely, ________