Waco Friends of Peace is planning to soon speak before Waco City Council about banning plastic bags.
“They are extremely destructive to the environment, they end up in the land and the oceans and they also contribute to climate change,” says Alan Northcutt, Organizer of Waco Friends of Peace.
But not everyone agrees, some say it’s more about the discipline of using them.
As a matter of fact, some shoppers prefer plastic bags over anything else.
“The idea behind it, I understand, you know the issue with the environment but if people would just simply be responsible and once they are done with the plastic bags, just put them in the garbage bag and off the curb side, then we won’t have an issue with plastic bags floating around all over the place,” says Sandy Bogovich.
About 38-billion plastic bags are used across the country each year and from those less than 1% get recycled.
Northcutt says, the rest end up in the landfills or the side of the road.
Waco Friends of Peace are not sure what people will think of the idea, but say they will find reusable bags more convenient.
“Strong. Easier to carry. You know, they don’t break and it’s just the habit of carrying them with you and wherever you go, using those instead of plastic. I think people once they try it, they’ll find it really as an advantage,” says Northcutt.
Although several cities in Texas have already banned plastic bags, for one city it didn’t quite work out and Bogovich feels it could be the same for Waco.
“Dallas tried to force everybody to do away with all of the plastic bags and forced people to bring their own biodegradable bags or to purchase their bags to tote their groceries home in and it just simply didn’t work and they ended up going back to it,” says Bogovich.
The group has tried other ways of reducing the use of plastic bags by handing out over 15-hundred reusable bags on Earth Day.
(Information from MyCenTx.com)
