A group of Pullman citizens have started a campaign to eliminate free plastic bags from Pullman retail outlets. Started by Liz Siler, an English instructor at Washington State University, the group consists mostly of members of the WSU community, but is open to all concerned citizens. The group has proposed a tax of 20 cents per bag to be considered by the Pullman City Council, which will take up the issue at the end of August. Such taxes have been demonstrated to eliminate up to 95% of plastic bag waste.

While in use for the last 50 years, it is only in the last 20 years that the current “carrier bag” form has become so popular. Besides being windborne litter, the bags are hazards to wildlife. They never decompose completely, only breaking down into oily micro-particles that spread across the landscape. Many plastic bags end up in the ocean, and can end up in unlikely places like the bellies of sea turtles that believe the bags are jellyfish, a favored food. There are currently 6 lbs. of plastic bags for every 1 lb. of zooplankton, the primary food element, in the ocean.

The concept of elimination of free plastic bags through a variety of means is not a radical one. Major metropolitan areas in the U.S. such as San Francisco already have their plastic bag ordinances in effect, and countries around the world, from Ireland to China, have implemented bans.

A ban in Pullman is a great start for cleaning up the Palouse from this latest environmental scourge. But it is going to be largely incomplete without participation from the Moscow community. We would urge our neighbors to the east to form their own coalition to work on this issue and come up with a similar solution.