Pro: Plastic bags are a waste
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Those white plastic grocery bags strewn across the landscape are the scourge of the environmental community.
They're hanging from trees, caught up in fences and littering drainage ditches.
"That's why people say this is a trashy town," Victoria resident Barbara Lampley said. "It looks trashy."
She's calling on the retail community to encourage customers to stop using them. She would like the stores to offer customers 5 cents for each reusable bag they bring with them so the plastic bags aren't needed.
"They are cloth bags," she said. "You can use them for a long, long time."
Lampley stopped short of calling for the state or city to impose a ban on plastic grocery bags.
Lampley is not alone in her push to do something about plastic grocery bags. State Rep. Rafael AnchÃa, a Democrat representing northwest Dallas County, has introduced a bill to encourage the use of reusable bags.
House Bill 1361 would assess a 7-cent fee on every plastic bag a customer receives at checkout.
Retailers would keep 3 percent of the fees to cover the cost of collecting the fee. The rest would go to help cities with their recycling programs.
"It's really trying to change behavior to reduce the number of plastic bags that end up being thrown away and that end up in streams and trees," said Tim Dickey, Anchia's communications director.
Plastic bags were introduced as an alternative to paper bags, which were seen as creating environmental problems at one time, Dickey said. "But we're 10 or 15 years down the road with plastic bags, and we've seen that there were unforeseen environmental problems created by the bags."
Anchia's bill is changing as his office works with consumer groups and retail associations. Other proposed legislation has also been introduced that could influence the bill, Dickey said.
Shelley Parks with H-E-B said the company is neutral on the question of legislation dealing with plastic bags.
"It looks like they're going to pass a bill of some kind," she said. "Whatever the bill is, H-E-B's stance is we will support the bill."
The company is already encouraging customers to recycle by offering reusable bags and by providing drop-off bins for the plastic grocery bags.
"We have had a 14-percent increase in the plastic bags recycled over previous years," Parks said.
Related: Con: Education is the answer
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One other point, recyling plastic bags will not reduce the litter. The people that litter do not recycle, or properly dispose of anything.
April 20, 2009 at 4:13 p.m.First I don't think any people would lose their job if they did stopped making plastic bags. They contain little plastic and I think this is a tiny percentage of their business.
Personally I would be glad if they did stop, I am sick and stinking tired of seeing those things flying from every tree, bush and fence line. The one good thing though about the plastic bag flags is you can usually tell when you are getting near a Walmart Store - in case you are from out of town.
I think they should use nothing but cloth bags and charge you a dollar, I guess, for every one. Pretty soon, I bet, everyone would start bringing their own bags to the store.
April 20, 2009 at 3:43 p.m.Why not make it easier for the public to recycle? Hire an independent company to pick up recyclable materials curbside like our trash. Give the public a little incentive like a credit on their water bill for recycling. Just think about how much that would reduce unwanted waste in our landfills if we got our paper, aluminum, plastic, & glass pick up curb side. My sister lives in Round Rock and they been doing it for years. Why not here in Victoria? That way the environment wins and no one looses their job.
April 20, 2009 at 3:05 p.m.I know someone that is working at the local plastic plant and he has been there since they opened the plant. I know that if the plant were to close it would put him and his family out on the streets. I understand that the plastic bags are not good for our environment so why not help educate people. Today it is about plastic and the next day it will be about something else we the people will always have something to complain about that is why we live in America where we can express our opinions.
April 20, 2009 at 11:03 a.m.Since Calhoun County has industrial plants that produce plastic bags and Victoria County has 2. That means that there a many families in both counties who put food on their tables and who have the benefits of health insurance for their families, which is another huge drain on the taxpayers, because of these plastics industrial plants who manufacture plastic bags.
Placing a fee of any amount on people per plastic bag they use is just another way for the government to put their hands a little deeper in our pockets giving us no say in the matter. Do all of you out there who are so concerned with the environmental issues associated with plastic bags really think that any of this money will be used to correct the problem...if so then I have some beach front property in Arizona to sell you.
I agree with Aubrey...HEB has recycling bins...use them...encourage your friends to use them...and if you want to use those little cloth bags at a dollar a pop then knock it out. I personally liked the paper bags but all the boo hooing about the trees being cut down stopped that....well paper is recycleable...change to that...but thank you for not charging me any more taxes or fees without my permission...and thanks for not adding to the welfare, and state health care numbers by putting huge amounts of people in this area out of work because you want to save the animals.
April 19, 2009 at 8:55 p.m.The main reason I am concerned about plastic bags is because of all the animals that are killed on land and in the sea by discarded bags. Please people be more careful....show a little compassion for the environment and the animals...Recycle! Thanks HEB!!
April 19, 2009 at 6:31 p.m.