To celebrate Earth Day Coleen has among other things reintroduced her bag tax ordinance.  It differs from the one she avoided introducing in September.

1. This bag tax ordinance levies both paper and plastic bags, avoiding legal hurdles that have stymied such clean up efforts in cities like Oakland CA.

2.  Bag tax revenue collected would go towards educating Evanstonians to get over the Paper vs Plastic paradigm, and help businesses get in on the act.

3. Fifty percent of revenues would go towards the Evanston Ecology Center.

4. This bag tax ordinance charges one fifth the previous proposed bill; just a nickel bag.

5. This ordinance clearly defines the candidate objects for taxation, leaving dry cleaning bags, bags for produce, poultry, fish and deli meats untouched.

Furthermore the context for such an ordinance has changed.  Over a dozen more states and municipalities have passed or announced consideration of laws regulating or banning disposable carryout bags.  The city council of Santa Monica CA recently banned plastic bags, taxing the remaining paper carryout bags and provided for a reusable bag exchange to help shoppers kick the Paper or Plastic paradigm.  Prince Georges Co. Maryland is considering a tax on bags as is Toledo OH.  Bag It the movie went from winning film awards to giving pointers on how to become Bag It towns.  To see their interactive map showing bag bans and regulations worldwide click here.

This March the Evanston Environment Board recommended city council adopt an ordinance "to eliminate if not seriously reduce disposable shopping bag use," a call now taken up by the activist group Citizens' Greener Evanston.

Now that Evanston has language to consider, and a committee to consider, what should the next steps be?  Well the city itself has called for increased waste reduction efforts in its Climate Action Plan, specifically recommending the consideration of a tax on disposable carryout bags.  It should follow through with specific plans for educating businesses and consumers to bring their own bags.  Helping folks change their behavior will save the environment.  The bag tax revenue will help the fifty thousand plus shoppers in Evanston change those behaviors.  Mandating that the disposable bags provided be made of recycled material, and in turn prove recyclable would also help.  And for the sake of realism the bill should account for how businesses should handle folks who reuse disposable shopping bags.  Those plastic bags last a long time after all..

You can tune into the Bag Tax conversation during the Administration and Public Works Committee meeting tomorrow night at the Civic Center.  See you there!