{"id":4853,"date":"2009-08-19T12:49:30","date_gmt":"2009-08-19T18:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4853"},"modified":"2009-08-19T12:49:30","modified_gmt":"2009-08-19T18:49:30","slug":"seattle-voters-reject-20-cent-bag-fee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/seattle-voters-reject-20-cent-bag-fee\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Voters Reject 20-cent Bag Fee"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n [social_buttons]<\/p>\n Well, it looks like the Plastic Bag Monsters weren’t able to “scare” up enough votes in favor of the 20-cent grocery bag fee in Seattle.\u00a0 Voters rejected the fee for every paper or plastic bag they would get from supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores.\u00a0 With about half the ballots counted in the all-mail vote, it was failing 58 percent to 42 percent in Tuesday’s primary.\u00a0 What will city leaders do next?<\/p>\n All eyes were on the city of Seattle as it planned to phase-out styrofoam containers in restaurants and proposed fees on disposable shopping bags<\/a>.\u00a0 Seattle was one of the first cities in the United States to take such an aggressive environmental stand and many other cities soon followed.<\/p>\n In July 2008, the Seattle City Council passed the ordinance as a way to encourage its citizens to use reusable bags and in turn reduce their contribution to landfills.\u00a0 The fee was to begin on January 1, 2009, but opponents of the ordinance were able to collect the number of signatures needed (14,000) to put the question to voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n The referendum to reject the fee was backed by the plastics industry (of course).\u00a0 The Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax<\/a> is a group formed by the American Chemistry Council, 7-11, and the Washington Food Industry.\u00a0 They argue that 91% of Seattle residents already recycle and reuse grocery bags so the fee is pointless; and the fee puts an undue burden on the poor during these tough economic times.\u00a0 The Coalition also wonders why large box stores such as Target and Wal-mart would be exempt.<\/p>\n All interesting arguments…what do you think?\u00a0 Did big industry players fool the voters into rejecting the bag fee?\u00a0 Should the city government mandate our behavior in regards to the environment?\u00a0 Is negative reinforcement more effective than positive reinforcement?<\/p>\n I doubt this will be the last we hear of the debate.\u00a0 Dow Constantine<\/a> has advanced to the general election for King County Executive and Mike McGinn<\/a> is well on his way as a Seattle mayoral candidate.\u00a0 Both men are known for their strong commitment to the environment and are endorsed by the Cascade Chapter of the Sierra Club<\/a>.\u00a0 This could get very, very interesting.<\/p>\n