Environmentalists renew push for plastic bag ban in Santa Cruz County

Environmentalists are reviving a push for any countywide prohibit on plastic bags, an problem county authorities have analyzed in excess of 18 several weeks, but one which may finally be headed toward a election.

Atmosphere California, a state-wide nonprofit, is pushing the prohibit together with other local advocacy groups in an effort to safeguard the sea, saying plastic bags frequently finish up within the ocean, polluting water and being mistaken for food by marine existence. Additionally they hope enough metropolitan areas pass restrictions that the state-wide law becomes inevitable.

“To ocean turtles, plastic bags seem like jellyfish, among their tasty and delectable goodies,” Stephen Michael, a director with Atmosphere California, stated throughout a little press conference Wednesday at Natural Bridges Condition Beach.

The county was one of the primary to prohibit polystyrene takeout containers, and it has been studying a plastic bag prohibit since 2009.

But your final election was postponed while a suit on the Manhattan Beach bag prohibit performed out. That situation was made the decision a week ago, using the prohibit upheld, and native environmentalists are actually wanting to push forward.

“More and more people we speak with say, Santa Cruz has passed a prohibit, right?’ However it has not. It is extremely, very odd that many places have passed it before Santa Cruz, being this type of progressive town,” stated Lauren Gilligan, a course coordinator with Save Our Shores.

Board of Administrators Chairman Mark Stone would really like a election as quickly as possible, but stated it

may hold back until after

a multijurisdictional waste management meeting in September. That meeting can lead to local metropolitan areas for example Santa Cruz and Capitola thinking about a prohibit too.

“It’s one factor for that county to get it done, but it is better if other areas perform the same factor,” stated Stone, who desires the prohibit to resist — or avert — potential lawsuit.

Santa Cruz County’s suggested law restrictions plastic carryout bags, although not using plastic for produce bags or pre-packed products. Additionally, it implements a ten-cent per bag fee within the newbie following the law passes along with a 25-cent per bag fee next, as well as paper bags to become produced from a minimum of 40 % recycled material.

The-supported Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, that has prosecuted over bag restrictions, disputes the injury triggered by plastic carryout bags, specially when in comparison to paper bags. They are saying claims a good marine gyre of thrown away diapers, empty milk jugs and plastic grocery bags is inaccurate. Based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Off-shore Garbage Patch includes small bits of debris, frequently plastics, circulating within the ocean, and it is largely invisible towards the human eye alone.

Save the Plastic Bag introduced a suit against a bag prohibit in Manhattan Beach, and a week ago the condition Top Court made the decision the town didn’t require a full environment impact review to pass through the prohibit. Environmentalists saw a victory, however the court particularly left open the chance that other towns would want one, a choice which has each side declaring victory.

“The Top Court situation does not really change anything so far as Santa Cruz can be involved,Inch stated Stephen Frederick, counsel for that Save The Plastic Bag Coalition, that has two more suits pending against California cities and it has objected towards the county’s proposal.

Frederick sees his group as champions from the atmosphere: plastic bags tend to be simpler about the atmosphere than paper, he argues, since paper bags produce methane once they break lower, a significant green house gas. Frederick argues for towns to complete an environment impact review, which Santa Cruz County hasn’t done.

“We are meaning the best environment value, that is environment truth. Before you decide to have action, you’ll want truth,” Frederick stated.

Stone and environmentalists from Save Our Shores and Atmosphere California the plastic bag industry left them no choice by passing a state-wide prohibition on taxes for plastic bags. Your best option left, they are saying, would be to prohibit plastic bags and tax paper bags.