Climatide

flickr/pantagrapher

Fences aren't enough to keep plastic bags out of the ocean.

Plastic shopping bags are notorious for escaping the waste stream and tumbling parachute-like into the great blue yonder to become part of one of the most insidious problems facing the ocean – plastic pollution. Most plastics never really go away; they just break into smaller and smaller pieces that can be found in every part of the ocean, choking and starving wildlife, carrying and dispersing persistent toxins. No one has yet hit upon a feasible solution other than simply preventing it from happening in the first place.

Over the past several years, plastic bag bans have been popping up in cities and towns around the world. States have gotten into the game more recently – California legislators tried (but failed) to pass a statewide ban last fall, and a measure is currently under consideration in Oregon. Now Massachusetts appears to be jumping on the bandwagon. Identical bills calling for “plastic bag reduction” have been filed in the state House and Senate, reading:

(a) If a retail establishment [4,000 square feet or over] provides plastic checkout bags to customers, the bags must only be compostable plastic bags.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be read to preclude any establishment from making reusable checkout bags available for sale to customers.

Notice the complete absence of words like “ban” or “prohibit” or, indeed, any negative language. For comparison, check out this draft measure introduced previously by the Cape’s former Representative Matt Patrick:

(a) No store located or doing business in the State shall give, provide, or make available plastic carryout bags to consumers.

…

(d) The following are exempt from this section:

(1) Compostable plastic carryout bags; …

The current bill doesn’t read like a ban so much as a requirement that plastic shopping bags be compostable. That’s exactly the point, according to Representative Lori Ehrlich, who authored the House bill:

People enjoy re-using their plastic bags for many purposes and paper bags, as I’m sure you know, have a significant e-footprint as well, so if they can be made to have little or no impact on the environment, why completely ban them? … Canvas is best without a doubt but stores should be able to offer something for those who don’t bring bags.

That’s in stark contrast to the bill being considered by the Oregon state Senate. That measure includes both paper and plastic in their definition of prohibited “single-use checkout bags,” making no exemption for compostable plastic, and imposing a fee for recycled paper bags in all but a few cases. The defeated California ban was similar.

Whether Massachusetts’ relatively soft stance and mild language will be enough to avoid the plastic industry pressure that killed the California measure and faces the Oregon bill remains to be seen. It’s still very early days – the bills haven’t even been assigned to committee yet. But Ehrlich optimistically points out that the bills have strong bipartisan support in both chambers. So stay tuned …