Plastic? Time to Bag It.

Plastic? Time to Bag It.
The D.C. Council has a creative plan to tackle a big source of pollution.
Friday, March 27, 2009; Page A16

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/26/AR2009032603466.html
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ELEVEN OF the 13 members of the D.C. Council are endorsing legislation that would place the District in the forefront of national efforts to reduce local pollution. The proposal is a creative attempt to discourage the use of plastic and paper bags that end up littering the area's roads and waterways. But it faces some fierce opposition.

The legislation, authored by council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), would impose a five-cent tax on every plastic and paper carryout bag from a variety of food establishments, including grocery, drug and liquor stores. Customers would be encouraged to bring their own reusable bags to the supermarket. Businesses would retain one or two cents of each nickel, depending on whether they offered a credit for reusable bags, and the rest would go toward the cost of cleaning up the Anacostia River. Mr. Wells coordinated his approach with similar legislation introduced this year in Virginia and Maryland. The Virginia legislature, alas, killed the legislation, but Maryland is still considering its bill, which would earmark proceeds for Chesapeake Bay protection efforts.

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