Daily Iowan, July 12, 2016
Officials are considering banning or taxing plastic bag use in Iowa City.
By Addison Martin addison-martin@uiowa.edu
Following a long line of cities across the country banning or taxing plastic bags, Iowa City officials are exploring how this type of sustainability can be implemented.
Iowa City Mayor Pro Tem Kingsley Botchway II noted efforts by city staff that would decide what type of ban would work best for the Iowa City community.
“We’ve requested staff to look across the nation at different models for the ban,” he said. “Some are a complete ban, some are big-business oriented, and some are a tax, usually around 5 cents.”
The City Council is waiting for staff members to present ideas and models of the ban, then it will vote on the issue.
While there is no particular date set, Botchway said, even if the councilors vote to implement a ban, nothing will be immediate.
“It will all be phased in,” he said. “Nothing will be voted on until our staff gets back to us.”
100 Grannies, a local group started by two friends who lived in Iowa City, is making the push for the plastic-bag ban. The group consists of grandmothers who want to end activities “destructive to Mother Earth.” The group’s goal is ensuring a sustainable future for their grandchildren, and this is one step, members said.
“I think the concern was there were several issues … [and] that people needed to make some changes in their habits and behaviors,” 100 Grannies member Mary Kirkpatrick said. “Plastic is made from petroleum; getting people to carry their own reusable bags gets them thinking about more ways they can help the environment.”
100 Grannies has worked with city councils in Johnson County, and the members said they are grateful that Iowa City was so willing to move on the issue.
Botchway said the city appreciates the organization’s efforts.
In addition, Kirkpatrick said, they hope their efforts in Iowa City will spur similar efforts in other Johnson County towns, across the state, and eventually nationwide.
Some businesses have made strides to reduce their plastic footprint, such as Iowa City’s New Pioneer Co-Op, which eliminated handled plastic bags last year. 100 Grannies played a role in the change.“We also worked with the 100 Grannies, and they were great to work with on it,” said the Co-op’s marketing manager, Jenifer Angerer. “We had been talking about it and talking about it, and when they approached us, we said OK and did it. And they gave us the final push.”
The Co-op started a 5-cent charge five years ago for both paper and plastic, and Angerer said the change had been well-received and was a good sign for going plastic-less.
“We had started charging for both paper and plastic, because from an environmental standpoint, paper is not much better,” she said. “Our main message is to get reusable bags.
“That kind of led us to charge 5 cents per bag that was donated [and] we periodically gave out re-usable bags … after we got rid of plastic, we dropped the charge for paper.”
Angerer said a charge on plastic bags could be a good idea.
“I would love to see that; I would love to see a ban,” she said. “Paper bags are slightly more expensive, but stores have begun asking if people want a bag, and this encouragement of reusable bags is great.”