Tacoma council, residents debate plastic bags for 3 hours

It is perhaps one of humanity’s greatest conundrums: paper or plastic?

While a dire problem for most people on this planet is not having food, here in America — more specifically Tacoma — our biggest problem is what to put our food in.

That was the debate at Tacoma City Hall Tuesday as the city council passed a plastic bag ban by an 8-1 vote.

Related: Why Jason Rantz calls Tacoma plastic bag ban ‘frivolous’

The vote came after the city council and residents debated the merits of two ordinances, each dedicated to regulating bags in the city. For more than three hours, the topic drew considerable comments from the public and lengthy discussion on the dais over every angle of shopping bag use, from environmental and business impacts to psychological effects.

One issue in front of the council was whether or not the Tacoma Dome should be included in a plastic bag ban.

“So when Taylor Swift comes to the Tacoma Dome you don’t have to tell her that she can’t hand out plastic bags and she takes her business elsewhere,” said council member Joe Lonergan.

“Maybe Taylor Swift isn’t your jam, but maybe Def Leopard or ZZ Top … the Dixie Chicks,” he added.

Either way, the Tacoma City Council was not going to leave their Tuesday night meeting without deciding how residents will take home their groceries. And either way, Tacoma residents were going to pay for a bag.

Tacoma’s plastic bag ban is not much different than other cities in Washington that have done similar prohibitions — plastic goes away, and stores charge 5 cents per paper bag that customers take home. That 5 cents goes to the store to cover the cost of the paper bags.

If the decision wasn’t tough enough for council members, a substitute ordinance was up for consideration, but failed by a 5-4 vote. The substitute would not have banned anything. Instead, it would place a 5-cent fee on all bags.

In any case, the city would prefer that residents adopt a bring-your-own-bag habit. By removing the plastic bags and charging for paper, the hope is that customers’ habits will change, and reusable bags will become commonplace.

Tacoma’s plastic bag ban comes in the footsteps of other Washington cities with similar bans: Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Bellingham, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Lacey, Mukilteo, Olympia, Port Townsend, Shoreline, and Tumwater.

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