{"id":64450,"date":"2019-11-11T02:23:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T02:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/volunteers-aim-to-ban-single-use-plastic-bags-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T14:52:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:52:49","slug":"volunteers-aim-to-ban-single-use-plastic-bags-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/volunteers-aim-to-ban-single-use-plastic-bags-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteers aim to ban single-use plastic bags in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango Beyond Plastic, a volunteer group, is campaigning to ban single-use plastic bags in town. City Council would have to approve such a measure.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A new volunteer group says banning single-use plastic bags in Durango would reduce local waste that contributes to a massive global plastic pollution problem.<\/p>\n

The group plans to lobby Durango City Council this month and present ideas for a formal ordinance banning single-use plastic bags this spring in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, we feel like those recommendations would be welcomed,\u201d said Kathleen Adams, a volunteer with Durango Beyond Plastic.<\/p>\n

The group estimates nearly 100,000 single-use plastic bags leave the city\u2019s stores everyday. Microplastic waste, in particular, is concerning because it finds its way into the air, water, animals and food, said Sarah Burris, a group representative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are ingesting a ton of plastic that we can\u2019t see. \u2026 It\u2019s appalling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

If Durango banned single-use plastic bags, it would join 13 Colorado towns, a handful of states <\/a>and numerous countries<\/a> that have taken similar steps to reduce plastic bag waste, she said.<\/p>\n

City Market plans to phase out plastic bags in 2025, according to its parent company, The Kroeger Co.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movement is worldwide and certainly very alive in Colorado presently,\u201d Burris said.<\/p>\n

In 2013, City Council approved a 10 cent fee on plastic bags distributed by the largest grocery stores. The measure was repealed by residents, with 56% of voters in favor and 44% opposed, according to The Durango Herald<\/em> archives.<\/p>\n

Ellen Stein, a volunteer with the 2013 Bag It campaign, said some of the opposition to the ordinance was rooted in the fee, not limiting plastic waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were more comfortable with eliminating the availability of plastic bags, and they didn\u2019t want money involved, and they wanted the chance to have a bag if they wanted it,\u201d she said of lessons learned during the campaign.<\/p>\n

However, over the past six years, more people have considered the impact plastic waste has on air, water and wildlife, Burris said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally feel a lot of support for this movement from most everyone I encounter,\u201d she said. \u201cAs we tote our reusable bags, it would be a tangible constant reminder of our need to move beyond a culture of convenience and waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of Burris\u2019 efforts to eliminate single-use plastic bags includes making bags out of old T-shirts and distributing them at north City Market. Through that work, she learned north City Market distributes 15,000 bags a day and extrapolated that figure to estimate the total distribution in all of Durango is 100,000 bags a day, Burris previously told the Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With help from volunteers, Burris has distributed about 3,000 reusable grocery bags, she said.<\/p>\n

This weekend, she plans to expand distribution to south City Market, she said.<\/p>\n

Interest in reviving a local plastic bag ban was sparked by the T-shirt bags over the summer, she said.<\/p>\n

The group is working on a final proposal to take to City Council, but it prefers a ban on plastic bags and a fee on each distributed paper bag, she said. However, the group does not expect to present ideas to the council until spring.<\/p>\n

A plastic bag ban in Aspen resulted in 85% of shoppers carrying out items by hand or in reusable bags at local grocery stores.<\/p>\n

Other cities in Colorado with bag measures include Ridgway, Nederland, Carbondale and Steamboat Springs.<\/p>\n

Burris acknowledged the ban would require a change of habit, but she hopes residents will be open to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do this not only for the planet, but for the oceans, for the wildlife and future generations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Durango Beyond Plastic<\/a> volunteers plan to address City Council at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at City Hall, 949 East Second Ave., about a potential ban.<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in the campaign or helping make reusable bags can email durangobeyondplastic@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

mshinn@ durangoherald.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colorado cities have approved similar measures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[507,4259,4151],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-64450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-city-officials","tag-newsletter-sign-up","tag-waste-management-and-pollution-control"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91765,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64450\/revisions\/91765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64450"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=64450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}