The council voted unanimously to direct city staffers to begin writing a ban with the help of retailers, environmental groups and other. The ban and a plan to gradually phase it in will be presented to the council by November. Council members also asked staffers to gather information about a possible band on paper bags, as well as plastic ones, and about possibly charging fees for so-called single-use bangs instead of banning them outright. Details such as whether small stores should be exempt and the penalties for not complying with a ban will be worked out during the four-month process.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell said Austin residents use about 263 millions plastic bags every year, forcing the city to pay more than 800,00 per year in pollution and litter management costs.
Although the city will push for a total ban of plastic bags will still be use for newspaper distribution as well as pet cleanup at locations across the city. Leffingwell said he expects enforcement of the ordinance to be directed at retailers themselves and not consumers.
Cities such as San Francisco, California, Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and Brownsville in South Texas have all enacted plastic bag bans that were not as controversial as people might think.
We're excited to get this initiative started! Are you?
We help out by using recyclable paper bags and when we can't use paper we use biodegradable plastic bags!
You can purchase a reusable bag at select retailers in Austin including Central Market, HEB, Randalls, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market. Each of these retailers sell the bags for about $1 each.
And what do you do with that huge pile of plastic bags sitting in your home?
Plastic bags can be recycled at the store-fronts of select retailers in Austin including Central Market, HEB, Randalls, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Market. Paper Bags can be recycled curbside in Austin or at the Ecology Action Recycling Center. Cycled Plastics is working with participating dry cleaners to collect plastic dry cleaning bags.
Or you can get creative and make beautiful artwork with those bags like Virginia Fleck!
New York native Virginia Fleck is making an impact with her recycled artwork. Virginia has made plastic bags her muse, and collects thousands of them from all areas. She then cuts them into strips and circles and creates what is called mandala or a circular collage. The resulting works are beautiful orbs of color and pattern; one would never assume they were made form garbage grocery bags.
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