Paper or plastic or what?
Even those who support Councilwoman Debbie Ortega’s proposal to reduce use of “single-use” plastic bags say the idea is more complicated than it seems.
“It will be very interesting to see how this thing works out,” says Jerry Spinelli, owner-operator of Spinelli’s Market in Park Hill. Spinelli is a proponent of reducing plastic use at all levels.
Ortega’s aide, Jenn Hughes, says the councilwoman’s office is currently “engaging stakeholders for input on an ordinance to reduce use of plastic bags.”
“How do you define ‘single-use’?” asks Spinelli. For years, his market has paid extra for heavier bags designed for multiple-use. “Is multiple-use plastic to be exempt?”
Other questions involve economic fairness. The question most people ask: If there is to be a fee on use of plastic shopping bags, does the merchant or the consumer pay that fee? Many merchants are likely to increase the cost of the product to cover any associated fee. That, in turn, might be a hardship on shoppers with a limited budget.
Hughes says Ortega is looking at establishment of a structure where “retailers would retain a portion of the fee collected to offset administrative costs and the remainder would go towards funding education that would include purchase of reusable bags for low-income residents.
“I don’t want to be a tax collector,” says Spinelli. “As a small merchant, I can’t accept imposition of another tax or fee.”
As a practical matter, Denver is limited by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) in its ability to impose a tax without voter approval. But that gets into the argument about defining the difference between a fee and a tax. In Montgomery County, Maryland, shoppers pay a tax on both plastic and paper shopping bags.
“I want to reduce plastic; I don’t want to buy plastic,” Spinelli comments. “I would prefer to eliminate all plastic bags all at once and be done with it. We may even return to the days when shoppers carried groceries in a cardboard box. At least paper and cardboard are compostable and recyclable.”
Spinelli also wonders about the potential of his obligation to provide reusable bags, either for sale or free of charge. “If I provide reusable bags, do I pay tax on the wholesale purchase and then collect tax on the retail sale?” he asks.
The large grocery chains have not taken a public stance. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, the grocery clerks union, is working with Ortega’s office, but waiting to see a specific proposal.
In January, the island of Hawai’i took the first step toward banning plastic bags. Merchants are allowed to charge a fee when shoppers request a plastic bag, and there are signs posted prominently in stores asking if people remembered to bring their own bags. By next January, all plastic bags will be prohibited.
As the first major jurisdiction to do so, San Francisco has banned single-use plastic bags for about five years. Even after the struggle of working out the details, some people still are questioning the full impact. One recent question relates to the sanitary condition of cloth bags used to transport meat and vegetable when the bags are not washed.
Among large businesses, there is also an anecdotal theory that consumers who use their own bags tend to limit their shopping to only those items which will fit in the bags. For example, consumers stop shopping when they know they have enough to fill the bags.
Another question which seems to be asked consistently is about the true environmental impact of production and disposal of shopping bags. While the question has circulated for years, nobody seems to have the answer about the total cost of natural resources and transportation. Grocers initially welcomed the plastic bags because the cost of transportation and storage was significantly less than paper.
In Britain, single-use plastic shopping bags are called “witches’ knickers” because of both their pervasive and almost indestructible characteristics.
Some “reusable” bags are actually made of a plastic material which wears out after time. Other consumers resent the fact that many reusable bags are made in China. These environmentally-conscious shoppers contend canvas bags should be produced from cotton grown in the United States.
There is some thought that legalization of organic hemp production in Colorado could lead to an economic windfall in bag production. Hemp fibers are extremely well suited for almost indestructible fabric.
Dave Felice can be reached at gelato321@aol.com. Councilwoman Debbie Ortega can be reached at OrtegaAtLarge@denvergov.org or via the City Council website at denvergov.org/citycouncil.