Apr 27, 2008

Council will vote on plastic bag plan

Study may help city shape ordinance

By Melanie Carroll / Daily News Staff Writer

In Palo Alto's ongoing efforts to help preserve the environment and decrease the number of plastic bags, the city council is slated to consider approving a three-month study designed to help develop a comprehensive plan for retailers.

At Monday's meeting, the council is scheduled to vote on the proposal aimed at developing a single-use carryout plastic bag reduction program.

The plan includes working with supermarkets and pharmacies through June to come up with reduction strategies that include the use of reusable bags. At the conclusion of that study, city staff would prepare recommendations and an ordinance for considation.

Earlier this month, retailers urged the city to come up with a more comprehensive plan than the city had proposed: Banning plastic bags at about 12 of the city's largest grocery stores and pharmacies.

Store representatives said the change would simply force them to resort to using expensive paper bags and advocated for an alternative program that would encourage customers to use reusable bags instead.

Council Member Yoriko Kishimoto said city merchants asked for the study in a good- faith effort.

"Paper comes from trees," said Council Member Peter Drekmeier. "Reusable bags are the key. ... We need to make that shift."

One option is for retailers to charge a small fee for carryout bags in an effort to encourage customers to carry their reusable bags, Drekmeier said.

The city's so-called BYOBag! pilot program campaign is under way. It aims to get

shoppers to use fewer single-use shopping bags.

The oil-based plastic bags are a main ingredient in an enormous mass of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, scientists say. Plastic dumped in nearby Bay Area waters can drift out to the giant mass, and paper bags contribute to landfills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Monday's meeting begins 5:30 p.m. in council chambers, located at 250 Hamilton Ave.



E-mail Melanie Carroll at

mcarroll@dailynewsgroup.com.