Cuyahoga Council Fee For Plastic Bags Does Not Solve Plastic Bottle Pollution

The new Ordinance introduced by Cuyahoga Council members Sunny Simon and Dale Miller to charge ten cents for every paper and plastic carry-out bag at retail stores is a bad idea. Plastic bags are a convenience, and are a service provided by retailers.

Simon has said that plastics are polluting Lake Erie, but she has not said if the plastic bags are causing the plastic pollution in Lake Erie, or what she will do about other sources of plastic pollution in Lake Erie (like plastic bottles.)

Simon has said that 319 million plastic bags are used each year, and the plastic bag fee is supposed to deter their use.

But, the County will be making a lot of money from the fee if plastic bag sales do not diminish. From each ten cents collected, the County receives six cents and the retailers keep four cents. The County will create an Environmental Remedial Fund to collect these fees, which could amount to $19,140,000 in revenue for the County, if bag sales remain the same. (319 million bags x .06 cents = $19,140,000 a year!) 

The County will be making money off of the workers who manufacture the plastic bags! 

How will the County use the nineteen million dollars to clean up Lake Erie?

If Simon is concerned about plastic pollution in Lake Erie, what is she doing about plastic bottles that are a major source of pollution? 

Many people in cities throughout Cuyahoga County can’t recycle, because they live in apartments, and some landlords do not pay for private recycling services.

Why doesn't Simon do something about this? 

Why doesn’t the County take over this problem so people can recycle their plastic milk jugs, plastic water bottles, plastic yogurt cups, plastic ketchup bottles, and plastic mustard bottles? Apartment dwellers also have aluminum and steel food cans and newspaper and magazines to recycle.

Why doesn't the County provide at least a few localities to recycle plastic, even if it is only once a month? Why can't fire stations, or churches or community centers, have a plastic collection day!

The plastic bottle problem in Lake Erie seems to be worse than the plastic bag problem, because most people reuse their plastic bags, and retailers have recycling containers at their locations for plastic bags.

But there are no places residents can recycle their plastic bottles, which they use at home!

Simon has also stated that there are microplastics in Lake Erie, and people are drinking the small particles of plastic. But, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a lot of microplastics come from toothpastes, facial scrubs, and fibers that are shed from synthetic fabrics in the laundry, not from plastic bags.

How will the County use their portion of the plastic bag fee (the $19,140,000) to clean up Lake Erie of the microplastics?

The County plans to use some of the funds to purchase reusable bags, and give them away free. How will this stop the problem of plastic bags? Stores already sell reusable bags, and it has not stopped plastic bag sales.

If Sunny Simon is concerned about plastic pollution, she should be addressing the problem of plastic bottles and the huge floating plastic bottle debris in Lake Erie, and give people a place to recycle their plastic bottles. And prosecute polluters.

Where can residents in Cuyahoga County recycle their plastics? Where can people who have lots of plastics take them, if they do not drive? If the County provided a pick-up service, I would sign up!

A better solution to the plastic bag problem would be to have retailers use biodegradable plastic bags!

Jeanne Coppola is interested in art, writing and health care advocacy. She wrote for the Cleveland State University student multicultural magazine "The Vindicator," when she was a student. She plans to move to Lakewood and has friends in Lakewood.

Jeanne Coppola

Jeanne Coppola is interested in art, writing and health care advocacy. She wrote for the Cleveland State University student multicultural magazine "The Vindicator," when she was a student. She plans to move to Lakewood and has friends in Lakewood.

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Volume 13, Issue 22, Posted 5:56 PM, 11.21.2017