• Seattle doesn’t want you to forget about your bags once the hype frenzy’s over. [NWCN]
• Connecticut continue to raise the bar on itself. [Mansfield Today]
• Meanwhile, New Jersey thinks a ban will only further the recession. [The Hub]
• Everything’s bigger in Texas, including environmental improvements. [Impact News]
• Vermont makes Fridays casual and plastic bag free! [Rutland Herald]
• Some opinions on the plastic bag debate. [lemondrop]
• Reusable bag giveways! [Momma Blogs a Lot]

Photo via Momma Blogs a Lot!

More than enough valid signatures have been collected by a group that opposes a new fee on paper and plastic bags in Seattle to keep the ordinance from going into effect in January as planned.

Instead, city voters will decide the fate of the disposable bag fee during an election next year.

The City Council passed an ordinance July 28 requiring a 20-cent green fee on plastic or paper bags at grocery and drug stores, setting off a range of reactions from cheers to outcry. The council also banned plastic foam food and drink containers. That rule isn’t affected by the referendum and will go into effect Jan. 1.

Sponsored in large part by the American Chemistry Council — surprise, I know! — the smoothly-titled Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax managed to raise 15,099 signatures from disgruntled grocers and customers alike in protest of the tariff. All they needed to stall the policy in its tracks were 14,374.

George Griffin, a spokesman for the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax, said the fee is “opposed by a broad spectrum of citizens and stakeholders as unnecessary, placing an unfair financial burden on Seattle’s working families.”

That many signatures “provides concrete evidence that the City Council was not representing the views of many of its constituents in imposing the bag tax,” Griffin said. “You can’t cast them as nonsupportive of the environment; they just think this is the wrong way to address the issue.”

The American Chemistry Council, which hired Griffin for the Seattle effort, is fighting similar proposals in California and Hawaii.

Sadly, a side effect of this very signature initiative may be the city council opting instead to ban plastic bags outright — an option that will likely anger even more people in the long run. Nobody wants to place taxes, but we’re trying to reach a compromise here. The fact of the matter is, for all the “we’ll do better, we swear!” rhetoric, people simply aren’t reusing and recycling of their own accord. So, I hope everyone knows what they’re doing here. This could become quite the battle.

• It still isn’t over yet in Seattle. (Seattle Times)
• On the other hand, a bag tax beckons in San Francisco. (ABC7 SF)
• Packing reusable bags is strenuous? Also: BAG RAAAAAAGE!!! (The Standard)
• Hawaii’s big island is ready to follow Maui into bag restrictions. (Pacific Business News)
• Meanwhile, Honolulu is dragging its feet. (Honolulu Star Bulletin)
• More recycling-friendly back-to-school ideas. (The Salem News)
• Residents of Mumbai aren’t too keen on plastic bags, either. (The Times of India)
• More colleges getting on the green train. (UConn Daily Campus)
• Oh yeah, the American Chemistry Council is mad at Hawaii. (Web Wire)
• Is it now Minnesota’s time to shine? (Hutchinson Leader)
• A little reusable bag dirt never hurt anyone… right? (blender)
• Just a friendly reminder to use your bags. (Your Greeness)
• And while you’re at it, win some free ones! (Ecorazzi)

Image via Flickr!

• Lest we forget, bags are just one battle in the war on hellish pollution. [Vice TV]
• Seattle will never rest again. [Seattle P-I]
• Meanwhile, another California city gets on board. [Morgan Hill Times]
• And still another California city cracks down all on its own. [Marin Independent Journal]
• Dudes need dude bags, apparently. [Random Rodricks]
• Dan Rodricks is not done talking about reusable bags! [Baltimore Sun]
• Ten easy ways to reduce your paper use, beyond the obvious. [5 Minutes for Going Green]
• Facebook: good for more than just party announcements? [crave]
• Durable jeans can make durable grocery bags one day. [Zappyturtle's Recycled Creations]
• Sure, they’re no cheap plastic squirt guns, but these party favor ideas are adorable! [Babyccino]
• And, of course, the obligatory cranky counterargument to round things out. [BoomZilla]

Seattle is taking a different approach to the “paper or plastic” debate; instead of banning plastic shopping bags, the Seattle City Council on Monday approved a 20-cent charge for consumers who want to bring home a disposable paper or plastic shopping bag from convenience, drug and grocery stores.

The proposal passed by a vote of 6-1, with Councilwoman Jan Drago casting the lone dissenting vote.

“The answer to the question ‘paper or plastic?’ has officially become ‘neither’,” Mayor Greg Nickels said in a statement. “The best way to reduce waste is not to create it, and today, we have made that a little easier in Seattle.”

The tariff, inspired by Ireland’s legendary bag tax success, will go into effect in January. Prior to that, council officials have plans to hand out at least one free reusable shopping back to every household in city. One thing the council was unanimous on, however, was a proposal — also passed — to ban plastic foam take-out containers, which will also go into effect at the start of next year. A similar ban, on styrofoam meat and seafood trays at supermarkets, will go into effect in 2010.

How effective will all of this be? Extremely effective, hopefully, and if the countries already enforcing this sort of tax are any indication. In the meantime, congratulations Seattle for having the courage to go through with it and start setting some nationwide standards.

• Ludacris rolls out in a hybrid? Who knew! [LA Diary]
• A kindred spirit expertly shuts down a whole lot of irrational whining about disposable bags and the inconvenience of dog-walking. [Seattle Metblogs]
• That bag monster guy is becoming quite the internet superstar. [Ecopreneurist]
• Prepackaged food is really getting out of control. (Though please don’t take away my pre-cooked beans, I don’t want cooking chili to take days!) [EnviroMom]
• From Oakland to Sac-town, the Bay Area and back down, Cali’s where they put they bags down. Mama’s proud! [American Chronicle]
• Why we don’t use plastic bags. [Conserve Plastic Bags]
• Haute potato sack bags are pretty cute. [Sasaki Bags]
• You have to get creative to reduce your carbon footprint when local agriculture isn’t an option. [The Accidental Scientist]
• “Ben the Bin” gets clever with recycled plastic and a mystifying name. [The Comet]
• Speaking of Ben, I’m such a sucker for a well-placed The Graduate reference. [Packet]
• Just another friendly reminder! [Aostara on Livejournal]

Thanks, Google Image Search!

On Tuesday, I reported that Seattle’s city council was holding a town meeting regarding a proposed expanded ban on Styrofoam and 20-cent tariff on disposable grocery bags. This morning I came across Seattle’s The Stranger, where SLOG blog correspondent Erica Barnett was on the scene to microblog play-by-plays of the hearing, observing it all so that you didn’t have to.

I’ll be live-Slogging the public-comment meeting on the proposed 20-cent fee for disposable plastic and paper bags (and proposed ban on Styrofoam food containers). Read along with me as enraged citizens yell at the council about their God-given right to free plastic bags, and environmentalists dressed up in silly costumes wave their hands and sing songs out in favor of the measure.

Silly costumes? The Bag Monster must have shown up again.

It is definitely an informative article, and Barnett is charmingly snide with her comments as she relays back highlights of the more preposterous arguments given at the meeting.

Cherie Myers, director of government affairs for Safeway, just made the case all the other grocery retailers (with the notable exception of Madison Market and PCC, whose representatives have both argued ) have made: That asking poor people to pay for bags (or remember to bring their own) is an onerous financial burden. She also argued that charging for bags would lead people to ration bags—in other words, to (horrors!) use less.

It’s a fun article, though no ultimate conclusions are met. (Though, really, how could they be? It was just a forum, not a trial.) If you wanted to make it to the forum but were constrained by time or geography, this is the next best thing. In fact, judging by the article’s mention of time passage (an “extremely looooong hearing,” we are told), if you hadn’t planned to make a speech, then this version may even be superior.

Photo via Flickr!

Heads up, Seattle! Tonight at 7PM, city council will be holding a public forum on two pressing and pertinent environmental subjects: a proposed wholesale ban on Styrofoam products and added 20-cent fee for disposable plastic bags.

Even if it’s costly, [Seattle Mayor Greg] Nickels says shoppers, consumers and businesses need to do right by the environment.

Council President Richard Conlin, who helped draft the plan, said the changes are needed because “we know about the environmental problems caused by plastic in the middle of the Pacific, to the plastic that clogs our drains, to the litter we find on our streets. Here’s a chance to do something where there are excellent substitutes available.”

Both proposals are expected to pass, and will come on the heels of 2006′s successful compulsory recycling program. Still, it isn’t without any opposition whatsoever. Grocery store associations are asserting that (especially with currently rising food prices) the bag tax should either be applied to all retailers or none at all — a very valid assertion, actually, and one that will likely be addressed tonight. Other valid questions being raised concern the impact on small businesses and low-income families. The city has vowed to help the latter, distributing at least one free reusable bag per household, but whether or not that’s enough to solve the problem is up for debate.

Are you in Seattle? Do you have an opinion or a concern that needs voicing, or are you simply interested in watching the public legistlation process unfold? Council Chambers in Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave., second floor — be there, or forever hold your peace.

Image via Seattle Municipal Archives!