San Jose council votes to ban most plastic and paper bags beginning in 2011

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted to make their city the largest in the nation to ban most plastic and paper shopping bags — and took steps to bring other Santa Clara County cities along with them.

... While the move to outlaw plastic bags has been gathering steam around the country and internationally, San Jose's proposed ordinance goes further than most to also include many paper bags, which critics say require massive amounts of greenhouse gases to produce. San Jose's ordinance would allow paper bags made with 40 percent recycled materials, but only for a fee. Restaurants and nonprofits would be permitted to continue to use paper or plastic bags.

... The city's legal department also will need to determine whether the city can require retailers to charge a fee for bags and how the fee would be shared by retailers and the city. That bothered City Councilman Pete Constant, who cast the lone vote against the recommendation. (Councilwoman Rose Herrera was absent due to illness.) Reed's effort to include other cities in the ban also aims to put uniform rules in place around the region. Big retail centers such as Westfield Valley Fair shopping mall straddle the borders of different cities, as do business corridors such as Hamilton and Bascom Avenues.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13397798

[jtrockville]

1. I hope this concept goes viral.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Tundra Tumbleweeds (plastic bags), get rid of them.

Even some Alaskan towns have gotten rid of them.

[CreekDog]

3. They really need to do this everywhere

somehow, someway and stop these bags from going everywhere.

they are seriously fouling the ecosystem in the Pacific Gyre.

[Libertas1776]

4. I understand banning plastic, but paper also?

I thought that was the better of the two, and is more likely to be recycled.

[hayu_lol]

5. Always follow the money...

San Jose just wants more tax revenue. Thats the bottom line.

[pundaint]

6. Good job San Jose

[lysosome]

7. Seattle had the same thing... then we were forced to put it to a vote.

The tax lost in the vote, largely because of $1.4 mil that the plastics companies tossed in to the race. Poor them. I've always found that Seattle will get what it wants. Can't wait until it appears on the ballot, again. It's how several other items (sports stadiums and monorail) were voted until the answer the pols liked happened. Hey, worst case, we get another $1.4 mil in the economy.