Plastic bags clearly have environmental problems. Big ones. While technically some are recyclable, Durango lacks the machinery to sort them out of a single stream, and I don’t know if machinery to do this job exists. And recycling contractors in the United States are refusing to take them even if a city finds a way to sort them. Many had been going to China for recycling, but now China has stopped accepting them. Way too many of these bags end up blowing around in scenic areas and never decompose. Others are flushed into the city sewers and cause clogs that are costly to repair. From an environmental standpoint, disposable plastic bags used to carry out groceries and other merchandise should be flat-out banned. A fee imposed from only a few retailers is not good enough.

On the other hand, paper bags have been used for centuries, decompose quickly in landfills, and can be readily recycled. Many are made from recycled paper, and the number of these grows each year. Forests are well-regulated in the United States, and there should be no concern that paper bags will cause deforestation. It does consume energy to make them, but not a huge amount compared with that required to make other products that nobody ever even thinks about specially taxing, making subject to a fee, or banning. Therefore the ordinance overreaches by placing a fee on paper bags for supposed environmental reasons.

Regardless of voters’ decision, I hope the City Council will consider banning all carry-out plastic bags at all retailers in the city and allowing paper bags without fee or restriction.

Richard H. Ruth

Durango