Seattle’s shopping bag debate

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - the three R’s of waste management.
The theory is simple, taught to children at a young age in hopes that they will grow up with the understanding that resources are limited and every human being must be conscious of this.

How money changes everything…

Last July, the Seattle City Council approved a 20-cent charge for consumers who want to bring home a disposable paper or plastic shopping bag from convenience, drug and grocery stores. It seemed simple enough - it was progressive, forward-thinking and ecologically responsible considering each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide - over one million per minute.

A year later, in a politically charged summer where opposing views of any issue seem to be more jagged, the debate over 20 cents in Seattle is about as hot as their recent heat wave.

Citizens will vote on August 18 to approve the 20-cent fee, and polls suggest it will not be approved. A July 17 survey, conducted by KING 5/Survey USA, showed that 51 percent of Seattle residents are against the fee and 42 percent are in favor. Critically, among voters 50 and older — who tend to have high turnouts in primary elections — 57 percent are against the fee.  Seriously Seattle?  Come on….

As you would guess, serious cash has been put towards the opposition campaign of this fee, mostly from Big Oil and the American Chemistry Council. But there’s also a sly, heart-string pulling defense making waves in the final weeks - sympathy for the poor. The Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP), one of Seattle’s pioneering anti-poverty programs, has come out against the bag fee because it puts another “pressure point” on the poor.  This despite the city’s attempt to give out free bags.

A debate over 20 cents and doing something as simple and mindless as bringing ones own bags to the grocery store is so far from the larger steps that this country needs to take to combat climate change, peak oil and depleting resources that it’s scary.  Seattle, please vote to approve Referendum 1.