Sign this Petition to Ban Plastic Bags in Chicago! Yes!

1. Plastic bags will never biodegrade. They will pollute our land and water indefinitely.\n2. Less than 3\\% of plastic bags are recycled. Also, the cost of recycling bags is hundreds of times higher than producing new bags.\n3. Plastic bags break down into smaller toxic debris which contaminate our soil, lakes, rivers and water reservoirs.\n4. Eventually the toxic debris will enter into the food chain.\n5. Each year hundreds of thousands of water animals such as sea turtles and whales die from ingesting plastic bags, mistaking them for food.\n6. Plastic bags are made from petroleum, further increasing our dependency on foreign oil.\n

This was submitted by shaindy from Chicago

Dublin taxed shoppers for plastic bags, 33 cents per bag and within a week plastic bag usage had dropped by over 90%. It is now a social stigma of sorts to be seen with a plastic bag...so maybe shaming shoppers into cloth bags is the way to go.

Submitted by Jill from Chicago ( 02:29 PM April 24, 2008)

ps. supporting this policy will ultimately help the independent biz that currently can\'t afford the costlier/earth-friendly bags. removing the toxic/cheap option from marketplace will increase use of the earth-friendly bags (by necessity) and therefore their cost will go down.

Submitted by Angela from Chicago ( 11:00 AM April 24, 2008)

local stores can have \"bring your own bag\" campaigns--offer discounts to customers who bring bags or they can make reusable bags with their logo and cut down on their advertising costs. there are always options! and, if there is a ban on plastic bags, earth friendlier bags may initially be costlier, but as they become the main option, their cost would go down and smaller/independent stores won\'t suffer. there is no point in keeping these toxic bags around just to save costs, the market will adjust with the introduction of earth friendly options.

Submitted by Angela from Chicago ( 10:55 AM April 24, 2008)

if it\'s set as a legal standard and helps the earth more then the guy in the store saving money, i don\'t know i say earth first store second .. i get what you mean but we need drastic changes in this here bizzaroland

Submitted by phil tadros from Chicago ( 08:54 AM April 24, 2008)

Question: Other cities have the same policy, but they limit who the policy applies to. For example, a lot of local stores can\'t afford the costs associated with this new policy. Therefore, some cities have have excluded smaller stores. \nSo, my question is....if we support locally owned businesses, why support a policy that hurts our local market?

Submitted by sarah from Chicago ( 08:31 AM April 24, 2008)

Sign this Petition to Ban Plastic Bags in Chicago! Yes!

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