The war against plastic bags in Portland just got a lot more serious. Not hard, since it was pretty pathetic to begin with. The original 2011 ban on plastic in “big-box stores and supermarkets…affected fewer than 200 businesses,” according to The Oregonian.
EVERYWHERE AND HEREThe war against plastic bags in Portland just got a lot more serious. Not hard, since it was pretty pathetic to begin with. The original 2011 ban on plastic in “big-box stores and supermarkets…affected fewer than 200 businesses,” according to The Oregonian.
Miles Sanguinetti/VANGUARD STAFf
The Portland City Council recently decided to menacingly lower the guillotine and take a slice out of plastic beyond the walls of ol’ Freddies and Safeway. Approximately 5,000 restaurants, retailers, food carts and farmers markets will now feel the wrath of a paper-only decree.
“I believe Portlanders will rise to the challenge,” Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman told The Oregonian.
I must have missed the rest of his speech. The one that began with, “We stand on the brink, on the precipice of a world outside our realm of possibility. We face dark and uncertain times—an age where plastic bags will disappear forever, and it will only be through our collective courage—indeed, sheer bravery—that we will rise to meet this unthinkable challenge. Onward!”
What challenge? Give me a break. For all of Portland’s so-called progressiveness, I’m shocked that we’re not further along in this arena. Even concrete hell California is ahead of us, with dozens of its cities already employing plastic bag bans, some even charging customers for paper bags, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Mayor Sam Adams suggested a 5-cent bag fee, but dropped the matter when he saw how little support he’d get. Quibbling about 5 cents is a joke. Don’t move to Switzerland by any means. There you’ll pay 30 cents per bag and still get the stink-eye for not bringing your own.
The funny thing is that this new so-called ban still has a plethora of exceptions. The Oregonian reports that “business owners will still be able to provide plastic bags for bulk items, produce, meats, dry cleaning and prescription drugs” and more exceptions may come later for other “goopy items,” whatever those might be. Oh, and “durable plastic bags” that are “at least 4 thousandths of an inch thick” are still OK.
Perhaps a visit to the East African country of Rwanda would provide some perspective. Travelers arrive either by land or air, but before they can even enter the country their luggage is searched for plastic bags. Since 2008, there has been a countrywide ban on plastic, which means even the trash bags are made of paper. Yes, it’s true.
I visited the country in 2009 and was floored by the cleanliness of the streets, even in the bustling capital city of Kigali, where you’d expect to see at least some debris. On a bus ride through the countryside, a foreigner tossed a banana peel out the window and within seconds several passengers had climbed all over the poor chap. The message? Don’t mess with our environment.
The Rwanda Environment Management Authority website states, “The strong political will coupled with community participation in environmental management has put Rwanda on a steady path to sustainable development.”
The country’s success in protecting its environment comes from the government and citizens working together to make it happen. What a concept.
Then there’s the KGW story about a business owner in Southwest Portland, Dan Dolan, who likes plastic bags and hopes they stay. His philosophy? “Government mandates are always questionable, when you try to impose something. The market is [a] pretty efficient mechanism of deciding what bag is the right bag,” he said.
It’s comforting to know that the “market” always cares for the environment and will ultimately make the right decision. God forbid the government tries to mandate anything like that. It should just trust us to do the right thing. Wise, wise words.
I agree more with the Rwandan philosophy of life—personal and institutional responsibility. That philosophy has led to Rwanda becoming the most environmentally sustainable country in Africa and potentially further afield.
The REMA website politely asks visitors to “our land of a thousand hills” to carry “environmentally friendly material bags” because “this good habit can extend even globally as one goes back home. The environment bears no boundaries.”
Let’s see if Portlanders can, indeed, rise to the challenge.
