Outlawing plastic bags in Tacoma moving ahead
Tacoma has made progress on its plan to ban the use of disposable bags in the city, with an adjustment. The proposal now contains an amendment that the committee members feel will keep it from being too much of a financial impact for low income families.
The plan was passed by a majority vote of the council committee that oversees issues related to the environment. It calls for businesses to stop using most varieties of plastic bags for customer purchases, and to charge those who use paper bags five cents for each one that they use. The hope is that this will encourage more people to utilize reusable bags made of cloth or other materials. Booklet printing can be used to create materials that can be distributed to the public to let them know more information about new policies such as this and also how they can comply.
It is estimated that this could reduce the amount of waste in local landfills by as much as 500 tonnes and lower the amount of litter in the city.
In order to make the proposal easier for families who have a low income, the nickel fee for each plastic bag would be waived for those who need to use financial assistance such as food stamps.
If the final proposal is accepted by the full city council, it could be phased in over several months to give local retailers and consumers a chance to stock up on alternatives to plastic bags.
The plan was passed by a majority vote of the council committee that oversees issues related to the environment. It calls for businesses to stop using most varieties of plastic bags for customer purchases, and to charge those who use paper bags five cents for each one that they use. The hope is that this will encourage more people to utilize reusable bags made of cloth or other materials. Booklet printing can be used to create materials that can be distributed to the public to let them know more information about new policies such as this and also how they can comply.
It is estimated that this could reduce the amount of waste in local landfills by as much as 500 tonnes and lower the amount of litter in the city.
In order to make the proposal easier for families who have a low income, the nickel fee for each plastic bag would be waived for those who need to use financial assistance such as food stamps.
If the final proposal is accepted by the full city council, it could be phased in over several months to give local retailers and consumers a chance to stock up on alternatives to plastic bags.