I think we need to remember we are a huge tourist town with people traveling from all over the world to visit. Maybe in our tourism guides we should add to our advertising slogans: “Mr. and Mrs. from Italy, Germany and France, we want you come and stay a few weeks, but remember to pack those reusable bags when you come to visit us!” “Mr. Hunter, when you come for that 14-day hunting trip and buy four shopping carts of groceries, bring your bags, and we don’t mean just to haul away what you shoot!”

City Council is always asking us to shop local. With ordinances like this in place, why should people in the county do so? To have a handful of people make a decision on banning plastic bags that will impact more than 52,000 residents of La Plata County seems a bit unconstitutional to me. About 35,000 of these people didn’t have the option to vote for councilors, but council has the option to pass an ordinance that will directly affect them. If the City Council feels this is such an important issue, then it should put it on the ballot and let residents throughout La Plata County be heard. Remember, sometimes it’s better to educate residents about an idea than force an idea on them.

Heidi Burtoni

Durango