The City of Boulder recently took public comments on the issue of regulating plastic shopping bags and potentially paper ones too. The comments came in overwhelmingly in favor of taking some action to regulate this ubiquitous accessory of consumerism. The potential regulations include a fee imposed on paper and/or plastic bags, or an outright ban.

There are numerous environmental reasons for reducing or eliminating our reliance on these bags, which are typically used only once then discarded. They take centuries or longer to biodegrade and they are one of the most common sources of litter just to name a couple.

“According to a Boulder County Waste Composition Study, 781 tons of plastic retail bags ended up in the county’s waste stream in 2010. That represents roughly 120 million plastic bags thrown away countywide.” Source

The Boulder City Council meets May 15th and is scheduled to discuss plastic bag regulations. What are your thoughts?