Annapolis Measure Would Ban Plastic Grocery Bags

By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 2, 2007

The City of Annapolis might soon officially answer -- and render moot -- one of the most burning questions of our time: paper or plastic?

The city's answer could be paper, at least according to a proposed ordinance that would ban plastic grocery bags from being distributed in the city.

Alderman Sam Shropshire (D-Ward 7) said his measure, which is similar to legislation in the works in Baltimore, is designed to eliminate the environmental threat of discarded plastic bags.

Fish, birds and turtles can die from intestinal problems when they accidentally ingest discarded plastic bags that find their way into the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding tributaries, Shropshire said. And paper, he said, is more easily composted than plastic bags, which can take as long as 1,000 years to degrade.

"No plastic checkout bags. It's the right thing to do because of our proximity to the Chesapeake Bay," he said. "I want Annapolis to set the example to Baltimore and the entire state that we are going to take a leadership position against any type of pollution going into the bay."

He plans to introduce the legislation to the City Council next Monday.

If enacted, the city's plastic bag ban would be part of another trend: a wave of recent laws in Maryland designed to protect the environment. The measures advanced by the General Assembly during the past session included proposals aimed at cutting pollution coming from storm sewers and reducing vehicle carbon-dioxide emissions.

Cindy Schwartz, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, said the administration of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) had "changed things dramatically. It's a more green-friendly administration. People look at what's happening with the state legislature, and they follow suit."

But opponents of a plastic bag ban -- namely supermarkets -- are not convinced that paper is necessarily greener. And they say consumers won't like absorbing the increased cost of paper bags, which cost about 5 cents each, as opposed to 2 cents apiece for plastic bags, according to Barry F. Scher, a spokesman for Giant Food.

Opponents of plastic bans also say plastic bags are in demand as a recyclable material, in particular as a component for plastic decks. Safeway and Giant supermarkets encourage the recycling of plastic bags and the use of reusable bags that the supermarkets sell.

"Last year, we recycled over 3 million pounds of plastic bags and plastic wrap that people took to our stores," Scher said.

Customers, he added, have already answered the proverbial question. "We don't even ask anymore, 'Paper or plastic?' Over 90 percent of the customers use plastic."

Supermarket officials argue that plastic is much more efficient to ship, thus cutting down on fossil fuel emitted into the atmosphere. Gregory TenEyck, a spokesman for Safeway, said it takes about seven trucks to carry the same amount of paper bags as one truckload of plastic bags.

"It's not a slam dunk environmentally," TenEyck said. "The choice of paper versus plastic is not one that is one-sided."

TenEyck said the city would be better served by enforcing litter laws.

"We're opposed to the proposal primarily because our customers appreciate the convenience of carrying home groceries in plastic bags," he said. "I think most people would be very opposed to this concept. You can carry a lot more groceries a lot more conveniently in plastic bags."

Joe Holley, a Giant customer who has lived in the Annapolis area for more than 40 years, said that despite his use of plastic bags, it was a "tossup" about which kind of bag he liked better. He said he was open to hearing the merits of a plastic bag ban.

"I can see the concern for the environment," Holley said.

Researchers have done little to settle the debate about the environmental merits of paper vs. plastic, according to Lisa Wise, executive director of the Center for a New American Dream, a Takoma Park-based nonprofit organization designed to help U.S. consumers protect the environment.

"Neither choice from the environmental perspective is the right choice," said Wise, who advocates use of reusable bags.

Citing numerous government and private-sector studies, Wise said paper bags, or more specifically the chemical processing that creates them, "generate 70 percent more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags do." Moreover, 14 million trees that otherwise would be absorbing greenhouse gases are cut down to produce the number of paper bags Americans consume each year, Wise said.

Conversely, 12 million barrels of oil are used to manufacture the plastic bags consumed annually in the United States, Wise said. An average family of four in the United States, she said, uses almost 1,500 plastic bags each year, and 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually worldwide. U.S. consumers are less likely to recycle plastic than paper, Wise said, noting that plastic bags make "the top ten list of the most common trash items on the American coastline."

Considering the health risk plastic bags pose to wildlife, environmentalists advocate the use of paper over plastic for those who live near coastlines and the opposite for those who don't. "Going with a plastic bag in the Midwest and a paper bag on the coast is the rule of thumb," Wise said.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has declined to take a position on the matter. "They're both wasteful," said Jennifer Aiosa, a foundation scientist. "Bring a canvas bag."

It's not yet clear how the proposal will fare with the Annapolis council, although Shropshire said he has support.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer (D) said that although she is concerned about the environment, she is not convinced that a plastic bag ban would be the best policy. She said she wants more information from experts.

"There seems to be a difference of opinion within the environmental community about what is best for the long run," Moyer said. "If there's a choice between paper and plastic, it's perhaps 50-50 as to what's environmentally sensitive."

Moyer said her city "should also do more to encourage the use of canvas bags," perhaps expanding the recycling program and giving residents reusable sacks.

Shropshire is also a proponent of reusable bags. However, he is moving forward with his plastic bag ban proposal. He said he views the measure as a "shot at the giant of overconsumption."

"It's going to be a shot heard around the world," he said.