Local Bag Ban Stronger Than State Measures
To the Editor:
I am extremely disturbed by the prospect of our legislative council repealing Newtown’s plastic bag ban. While I understand that we now have a state ban, it’s important to note that our ban is stronger and goes farther than the Connecticut ban.
The state ban does not charge consumers for paper bags and it is this 10 cent charge that encourages the use of reusable bags. Many people don’t know that paper bags arguably have a greater carbon footprint than do plastic bags. Their manufacturing causes many millions of mature trees to be cut down, they are made with chemicals that leach into the environment, and they don’t break down easily in the landfills where they inevitably end up.
Please attend the Legislative Council meeting on January 18 and tell our council NOT to repeal our plastic bag ban. Let’s keep Newtown’s ban in place and continue to encourage the use of reusable bags!
Sincerely,
Lynn Hungaski
Newtown
If the State does not mandate the $.10 a bag where does this money go ? Does the Town collect it ?
And why don’t they charge $.20 when they double bag ?
The local per bag charge is absorbed by the business to help offset the cost of acquiring paper bags. It is up to each individual business to double charge of double bags.
Thank you Mr. Voket
I remember back before the plastic bag ban, businesses gladly gave you a paper bag – for free.
” Many people don’t know that paper bags arguably have a greater carbon footprint than do plastic bags. Their manufacturing causes many millions of mature trees to be cut down, they are made with chemicals that leach into the environment, and they don’t break down easily in the landfills where they inevitably end up.”
I do understand that paper bags (and reusable bags) have a greater carbon footprint than do lightweight plastic bags.
What’s I don’t understand, however, is how the fashion police managed to get the ordinance committee to choose the most evil solution. A thinking person might have chosen ban the paper bags, not the more environmentally friendly plastic bags.
The voting public did not err when they sent as large a slate of Republicans as they could to the LC. This policy change is the result of an election where the voters were very clear about how they stand on these issues.