Hundreds of Washington residents will be putting on a (temporary) tattoo on Saturday, seeking to attract the attention of a president who has time only for “battleground” states needed for his re-election.
The Seattle City Council voted Monday to ban single-use plastic bags from groceries and other retail stores, joining a growing trend among cities that embrace green values.
Today is “A Day Without a Bag,” a day holiday shoppers and retailers are asked not to use single-use, plastic shopping bags but to use reusable bags instead.
Shoppers and retailers alike now have a year to get used to the fact they'll no longer be able to use plastic bags for groceries or convenience-store goodies.
A gray whale that washed up on a Puget Sound beach last year has become Exhibit A in the debate over whether to ban plastic bags in Seattle. Environmentalists point to the contents of the dead whale's stomach, itemized in a necropsy, as a compelling argument that the thin-film carryout shopping bags should be outlawed. The inedible trash that the whale had ingested included sweatpants, a golf ball, surgical gloves, small towels and more than 20 plastic bags.
Environment Washington Research and Policy Center is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.
