By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

The issue of whether to ban plastic bags is, funnily enough, similar to plastic bags themselves. Neither decomposes nor fades away. They will exist for years and years.

Ten years ago, there was a debate on whether to ban plastic bags. Potential plastic bag bans have appeared sporadically since, most recently during the April 7 Los Alamos County Council meeting. During the meeting, it was voted 6-1 to direct the Environmental Sustainability Board (ESB) to return to council in 90 days with a proposed plastic bag ban. Councilor David Reagor cast the opposing vote. This proposal will be notable because the council also approved not pursuing a mandatory bag fee.

Council Chair Randall Ryti explained that last year the council requested the ESB investigate a ban on single use plastic bags but did not take action.

Ryti said the biggest plastic bag culprit is Smith’s Marketplace in Los Alamos and Smith’s Food and Drug in White Rock. He reported that the Los Alamos location disperses 2.1 million plastic bags a year while the White Rock location distributes 800,000 a year. While the locations offer recycle bins for plastic bags, Ryti said, “there is a question of what actually happens to them once they are collected – if they are actually reused in anything and what the quality of that item … we don’t know.”

Councilor Ryn Herrmann expressed support for a ban and a 10-cent fee for paper bags.

“I firmly believe that this County should be a leader in sustainability efforts,” Herrmann said. “Single-use plastic bag bans can be powerful symbols of a community’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. When a community implements such bans it sends a clear message that they value reducing plastic waste, protecting wildlife and promoting cleaner, healthier environments. My concern is always how this would impact our local small business community, but I would like to suggest that we ban the use of plastic bags and institute a 10 cent for paper bags, exempting small businesses, restaurants and doctor’s offices. Eighty to 87 percent of plastic bags are not recycled and they are used for an average of 14 minutes. I think it is time that this County step up and send a message.”

Councilor Melanee Hand wondered about the effectiveness of plastic bag ban when so much that is bought and consumed is encased in some type of plastic.

“There is plastic everywhere,” she said. “By getting rid of plastic bags (we are) not getting to eliminate plastic in our environment. There’s still plastic trash that’s still going to be an issue …”

She also asked if there were options for faster decomposing plastic bags that could be acquired. Furthermore, what was the logic of offering paper bags, Hand asked. How would a paper bag be more sustainable?

County Sustainability Manager Angelica Gurule said Las Cruces implemented a paper bag fee and it was to “incentivize people really to stop using the paper bag and they have seen decline as time has evolved in the number of purchased bags. So, it’s actually a deterrent in a way and people are wanting to use a reusable bag.”

ESB member Shannon Blair added that there are always environmental trade-offs, but paper bags are recyclable and are less of a litter hazard. She noted there are compostable plastic bags; however, they are expensive and require a commercial compostable system, which the County does not have.

Councilor Suzie Havemann weighed in saying, “I am inclined to want to move forward with a single-use plastic bag ban in our community with no fee required and leave it up to the businesses to decide if they would like to implement that on their own.”

She added that a bag ban is a chance to further implement the County’s sustainability goals.

“I think for a whole lot of reasons, the fact we got a climate action plan in place, we want to reduce our (carbon) footprint … this is not going to solve everything … but we are not going rogue here, I think we just trying to catch up and I think the data supports that we all do what we can and the less plastic that is out there littering our environment or increasing our carbon footprint is something we should try to control and mitigate.”

Councilor Theresa Cull added that there are a lot of things that are out of the County’s control, but banning plastic bags is something it can do. She added that she liked the idea of allowing businesses to decide on a bag fee.

“Folks make adjustments and I think there is enough precedent and enough communities in New Mexico and in other places that folks travel and they have been able to accommodate the various requirements that are there,” Cull said.