Taking initiative to cut down on landfill space and
encourage more environmentally friendly shopping, Texas is debating two new
bills that will decrease the number of disposable plastic grocery bags in the
landfills. Rafael Anchia, a Democratic Representative from Dallas, proposes
that Texas join two other states in placing a 7-cent tax on plastic bags.
Offering a different solution is Senator Letiticia Van de Putte, a Democrat
from San Antonio. Van de Putte endorses a proposal to require grocery stores to
offer recycling bins, offer re-usable plastic bags at a reasonable cost, and
stamp a reminder to bring their plastic bags back to the store directly on the
bags.
Both of these measures are steps in the right direction
in protecting the environment, decreasing landfill space, and encouraging
recycling. Anchia’s bill proposes a nominal tax on the use of disposable
plastic bags in order to decrease the demand for these environmentally-harmful
products. By instating this tax, proponents of this bill hope that more
consumers will turn to re-usable plastic bags or biodegradable paper bags. The
proposal itself calls for a small portion of the tax to go back to the
retailers while the rest of the 7-cents would be used to fund the recycling
programs of the city. Less usage of harmful plastic bags and more
funding for recycling? Sounds pretty great to me. This measure, if passed, will
have huge positive effects on the environment due to the far-reaching scope of
the bill.
Senator Van de Putte’s proposal also strikes the right
note in terms of encouraging more green behavior from consumers. Last year in
Austin, five of the major retailers, H-E-B, Walmart, Walgreens, Randall’s, and
Target, voluntarily sold usable plastic bags and placed recycling bins in their
stores, more or less enacting Van de Putte‘s bill. The measure was a success:
recycling of the plastic bags increased by 20% while demand decreased by 40%,
and the stores even sold enough re-usable bags to run this program at a profit.
In fact, H-E-B, the largest plastic bag producer, endorses this bill, citing
their success in increased soft plastic recycling and sale of re-usable bags.
Sounds great,
right? However, in recent days, Van de Putte’s bill was amended to prevent
cities and municipalities from passing stronger measures. Most consumers are
concerned about the environment but end up using environmentally-damaging
plastic bags out of convenience. However, if lawmakers pass bills that require
consumers to rethink their actions, it will be a step forward for everyone
because the environment is something we all share, so cities and municipalities
should be allowed to pass stronger measures in addition to Van de Putte’s bill.
Senator Van de Putte and Representative Anchia should be applauded for their
efforts in pushing through such measures.
