HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/05/2013 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 046, 2013, AMENDINGDATE: March 5, 2013
STAFF: Susie Gordon
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL 32
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 046, 2013, Amending Chapter 12 of the City Code to Establish a Disposable Bag Fee.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At its November 27, 2012 work session, Council requested staff develop an ordinance that would apply a fee on single-
use grocery shopping bags. An ordinance is proposed that establishes a 10-cent fee on both plastic bags and paper
sacks that are used in the community’s grocery (food) stores.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
Like many communities around the country and throughout the world, people in Fort Collins have expressed concerns
about shopping bags that are designed to be used once before they are thrown away. At its November 27, 2012 Work
Session, City Council reviewed options for decreasing the amount of disposable shopping bags that are used in Fort
Collins. In preparation, staff prepared a Triple Bottom Line Analysis of several approaches to reduce single-use bags
including education and outreach, a ban, assessing a fee or tax, and requiring credit or reimbursement when customer
brings their own bags. After discussing the information, City Council requested that staff develop an ordinance that
would apply a fee on single-use grocery shopping bags (Attachment 2). Council also requested that staff continue to
increase awareness and outreach regarding plastic bags, and to look for ways to improve the availability of recycling
for plastic “film” bags in Fort Collins.
A number of US communities have enacted a fee on plastic and paper bags including:
• Washington DC
• Basalt, CO
• Boulder, CO
• Montgomery County, MD
In Fort Collins, negative impacts from single-use bags include the following:
• Contributing to the volume of discarded material that enters landfills
• Climate change: a source of 772 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted from Fort Collins
• Littering, including in City natural areas and stormwater conveyances
• Reduction in value of single-stream recyclables (plastic bags are considered contamination when mixed with
single stream items such as paper, cans and bottles)
The proposed ordinance assesses a fee to help offset these impacts. Furthermore, community goals and values
support action to decrease waste by reducing it at the source, which is expressed in City Plan, Principle ENV 14:
The City will apply the US Environmental Protection Agency’s integrated “hierarchy” of waste
management to help protect all environmental resources, including air, soil, and water, using source
reduction as the primary approach, followed in order by: reuse; recycling/composting; energy
recovery using emerging pollution-free technology; and, landfill disposal (where methane gas capture
is employed), as a final resort.
Adopting a fee on bags that motivates shoppers to use fewer plastic or paper bags is expected to have the following
results:
• Encourage source reduction and re-use, the most effective actions that can be taken to manage the waste
stream (by bringing a durable carryout bag with them to stores for their purchases, shoppers are practicing
both of these important principles)
• Serve as a “gateway habit”, reinforcing people’s willingness to expand re-use efforts to other products
• Increase the Fort Collins community’s ability to meet its goal of diverting 50% of trash from landfill disposal
March 5, 2013 -2- ITEM 32
• Help meet the community’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• Meet the public’s interest in recovering even more materials that continue to be discarded
• Reduce “life-cycle” impacts of single use bags – which include impacts from material extraction to production
and disposal of plastic bag use by transitioning to a bag type that has lower life cycle impacts
• Reduce stray litter and pollution in the community, and globally, including plastic bags in trees and waterways
Proposed Ordinance Details
The proposed Ordinance charges a 10-cent fee on both plastic bags and paper sacks used in the community’s grocery
(food) stores. Nationwide, grocery stores generate 60% of disposable bags (http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/
05152012Agenda/AgendaFINALWeb.pdf). The Ordinance defines grocery stores as retail establishments located in
city limits that operate year-round and sell a full line of food stuffs. The definition does not include temporary vendors
or vendors for whom food sales represents less than 2% of gross profit.
Following trends set in other communities that have adopted bag fees, the proposed ordinance splits the bag-fee
revenue between the City (60%) and the grocery stores (40%).
Money (60% of fee) would be used by the City to pay for activities that include:
• provide reusable carryout bags to residents and visitors;
• educate residents, businesses, and visitors about the impact of disposable bags on the city’s environmental
health, the importance of reducing the number of single-use carryout bags entering the waste stream, and
the expenses associated with mitigating the effects of single-use bags on the city’s drainage system,
transportation system, wildlife, and environment;
• fund programs and infrastructure that allow the Fort Collins community to reduce waste associated with
disposable bags;
• cover City’s costs to collect, manage fees and administer new programs aimed at reducing consumption of
single-use bags; and
• purchase and install equipment designed to minimize bag pollution, including recycling containers and waste
receptacles associated with activities that reduce trash associated with disposable bags; and, mitigate the
effects of disposable bags on the city’s drainage system, transportation system, wildlife, and environment.
Groceries would be able to retain 40% of the disposable bag fees to:
• offset new administrative costs;
• provide educational information and signage about the disposable bag fee to customers;
• train staff in the implementation, collection, and administration of the fee;
• collect, account for and remit the fee to the City; develop and display informational signage to inform
consumers about the fee, encourage the use of reusable bags, promote recycling of plastic bags; and,
improve infrastructure to increase plastic bag recycling;
• Sell low-cost reusable bags to customers to use; and
• Provide alternative containers for customers who use federal or state food stamps, since these funds may
not be applied to the purchase of carry-out bags.
The Ordinance under consideration implements the fee starting as early as October 1, 2013. This allows six months
following enactment of the Ordinance for grocery retailers and City staff to make the necessary financial, accounting,
and education and outreach preparations.
To ensure grocery stores were collecting the 10-cent per bag fee, City sales tax staff will monitor a new remittance
that would be submitted by retailers. If a lack of compliance with the Ordinance is suspected, Finance Department
auditors will be authorized to conduct an audit, much as they are authorized to conduct sales tax audits of Fort Collins
retailers. The Ordinance defines non-compliance by food stores with any provision of the Ordinance as a civil
infraction.
March 5, 2013 -3- ITEM 32
Anticipated Effectiveness of Fee
In 2009, Washington DC was the first municipality in the country to implement a fee (5 cents per bag) on disposable
plastic and paper bags. This initiative demonstrated significant reduction in disposable bag use. After the first year,
Washingtonians reduced disposable bag use from 270 million in 2009 to about 55 million in 2010, a reduction of 80
percent (Washington Post, “District Businesses Not Harmed by Bag Tax”). The Alice Ferguson Foundation conducted
a survey one year after implementation of Washington DC’s bag fee ordinance to measure public perceptions and
effects on businesses (http://fergusonfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/AFF-DC-Research-Memo-2-15-
11.pdf). The survey showed that:
• 75% of Washington residents reported a reduction in their bag usage
• a majority of businesses reported that their bag consumption dropped at least 50%
• 78% of businesses had a neutral or positive response when asked how the bag fee was impacting their
business.
There are two other compelling examples of the impact of modest fees on disposable bag use. In 2002, Ireland
implemented a 15-Euro-cent tax (approximately 20 US cents) on plastic bags and found that plastic bag consumption
decreased 90% in the first year after the policy was enacted (Environment California “Leading the Way Toward a Clean
Ocean” p.14). In 2007, IKEA became the first major retailer in the United States to charge a fee; 5 cents for
disposable plastic bags and 59 cents for reusable bags. IKEA has witnessed a 95% drop in disposable plastic bag
use at the store (County of Los Angeles, California “An Overview of Carryout Bags in Los Angeles County” p.43).
In Fort Collins, a fee on bags may have the effect of changing shoppers’ selection at grocery stores for the type of sack
they use to hold their purchases, from a single-use plastic or paper bag to a durable carry-out bag that can be used
multiple times. Based on experiences in communities around the world, staff estimates reduced consumption of
single-use bags by 50% in the first year, as people become accustomed to bringing their own durable bag with them
to grocery stores. In the second year another estimated 50% reduction is anticipated and another 50% reduction will
occur in the third year.
FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACTS
A 10-cent per bag fee in Fort Collins will create a new income stream. A study conducted for the City of Boulder in
2012 put the estimated number of bags affected by a fee on disposable grocery store bags at 145 per capita each
year, based on information about bag use from large, medium, and small grocery stores and convenience (food) stores
in Boulder. Applying this per capita amount to our population suggests about 22 million disposable bags would be
covered by a fee in Fort Collins. A 10-cent/bag fee would create a fund of nearly $1 million in the first full year of
implementation.
Budget Year 2013 (Oct-Dec)
(50% reduction)
2014
(50% reduction
year-to-year)
2015
(50% reduction
year-to-year)
2016
(50% reduction year-to-
year)
Estimated # disposable
bags affected by fee
2.7 million
1/8 of 22 million bags
used throughout year)
9.8 million 5.0 million 2.5 million
Fees remitted to City
(60% of fee) $164,571 $586,188 $ 298,278 $151,777
Fees remitted to grocery
stores $109714 $390,792 $198,852 $101,184
TOTAL $274,286 $976,980 $497,130 $252,961
Using Boulder’s per capita estimate as a proxy for Fort Collins, if each resident were to use 145 disposable bags per
year to hold grocery shopping purchases instead of switching to a durable reusable bag, a 10-cent/bag fee would cost
each resident $14.50 annually.
Grocery stores stand to save money when a fee is imposed on disposable bags because they would no longer have
March 5, 2013 -4- ITEM 32
to automatically provide customers with a bag that costs in the range of 2 cents to 5 cents each. Although bag
manufacturers and retailers have not been willing to publicize exact numbers, savings may be roughly estimated at
several thousands of dollars per month for each of the major grocery stores in Fort Collins. The option for grocers to
begin charging for each bag can be seen to represent a market-based solution; customers may either choose to buy
the bag or decline it and either go without, or bring their own. Administration of fee collection may add to a grocery
store’s operating costs, but those additional costs will be offsets by the revenue from the fee.
The benefits of having fewer disposable bags to clean up in public areas will save the City money; however, staff was
not able to quantify the costs savings to overall litter programs from a reduced number of disposable bags. Having
fewer disposable bags will also save money at recycling plants in Denver and will improve their profitability. From the
Finance Department’s perspective, a new .25 FTE clerk/accountant would be needed to carry out tasks for collecting
a fee on grocery sacks, including entering filings from grocery stores as journal entries and copying remittance slips
for Finance Department reports, and auditing. Another new .5 FTE environmental education specialist/planner would
be needed to manage the use of the funds and implement new programs on which to spend fee revenues (education
and outreach activities, purchase and distribution of durable bags to citizens, enhancement to local recycling
opportunities for bags, etc.).
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
An Ordinance restricting disposable bags will have a small but measurable impact on the community’s waste stream.
According to Brendle Group, a local consulting firm hired by the City to evaluate options for reducing consumption of
single-use bags, an estimated 220 tons/year of plastic bags from Fort Collins are sent to landfills for disposal, which
represents .2% of the waste stream that Fort Collins sends for landfill disposal. (No data were available for disposable
paper bags.) Over a three-year period of October 2013 through 2016, it is estimated that amount of disposable bags
used in community Food Stores would be reduced by 60% compared to business as usual, thereby diverting a
potential 709 tons of waste (281 tons/year).
Both plastic and paper single-use bags cause other types of environmental damage. Plastic is very visibly a problem
in maritime states and communities, where a serious consequence of plastic bag pollution is lethal harm to marine
life that ingests bags or get tangled in them, and plastic litter can float around and wash onto shores. For landlocked
Fort Collins, plastic bag litter may disappear with the wind or be broken down by sunlight and weather into smaller
pieces. These bits of plastic are still pollutants, even if they don’t resemble the bags they started off as; it is likely that
studies understate the environmental issues and magnitude of problems caused by plastic particulates.
On the other hand, critics of restrictions on bags will point out that replacement bags, such as cotton fabric bags,
create their own carbon footprint and may not be environmentally sustainable because of reliance on fertilizer,
pesticides, and herbicides.
While plastic “film” bags and paper shopping bags are both recyclable, there is insufficient data on bag consumption
and recycling quantities to estimate their current recycling rate in Fort Collins. There are at least 19 sites where plastic
bags are accepted for recycling, including all grocery stores in town. Paper bags are recyclable at public drop-off
locations as well as in the single-stream recycling offered in curbside collection programs throughout Fort Collins.
The new tons of avoided bag usage per year that are estimated to occur from passage of the Ordinance will reduce
life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 772 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent/year, compared
to business as usual.
SOCIAL IMPACT
In October, 2012, the City contracted a consulting firm, Brendle Group, to conduct a triple bottom line evaluation of
policy choices available to the City for restricting carry-out bags in Fort Collins. The report
(http://www.fcgov.com/recycling/pdf/triple-bottom-line-evaluation-plastic-bag-policy-options-10-2012.pdf?1351696764)
describes a number of social impacts to the community that would result from establishing fees on carry-out bags.
Among the positive social impacts are:
• Taking action against the use of disposable bags represents progressive environmental sustainability,
contributing to the perception of Fort Collins as a sustainable community
March 5, 2013 -5- ITEM 32
• Using reusable bags is a relatively easy and low-cost practice for consumers to adopt and may lead to other
choices to counteract a disposable, throw-away culture of consumerism
• Alternatives to single-use bags are readily available and relatively easy to use
• Several grocers in Fort Collins have adopted similar policies voluntarily without noticing fewer numbers of
customers
• When compared to an outright ban on bags, a fee can be seen to retain shoppers’ choice; those who choose
single-use bags can pay for them while shoppers who decline to use a bag or bring their own bag do not pay
the fee
• Fewer disposable bags will reduce stray litter, such as bags caught in trees or floating in waterways, and
improve the community’s aesthetics.
Some of the “cons” of establishing a fee on disposable bags include:
• Regulating consumer choice
• Less availability of single-use bags for common second uses such as trash can lining and picking up pet waste
• Seen as a regressive measure that may affect low-income populations in a negative way
• May drive grocery shoppers to out-of-town stores (not enough evidence to support or deny this point; would
work best for neighboring communities to implement fees at the same time to avoid this concern)
• Lack of national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation means costs and responsibilities fall to
local agencies to create/enforce restrictions on disposables such as carry-out bags; shifts the burden of litter
and pollution cleanup from the polluting industry onto the consumer of the bags
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
At its November 19, 2012 meeting, the Air Quality Advisory Board (AQAB) recommended that Council adopt an
ordinance that would significantly reduce plastic bags. The motion passed 4-3; three AQAB members dissented
because they felt the motion was not strong enough; they wanted plastic bags banned.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
During fall of 2012, meetings were held with members of the trash/recycling hauling industry, Chamber of Commerce
members and staff, and a variety of City staff to discuss alternatives to reduce single use shopping bags, including
the implications of a fee on disposable bags. Newspaper articles and columns, television bulletins, and spotlights on
City webpages and utility bill inserts were published, and a public Open House was conducted on November 8, 2012,
to introduce proposals to the community. Several representatives from the grocery industry attended the Open House.
Comments from citizens and from specially affected interests were reported during a work session with the City
Council on November 27.
Letters have been sent on three occasions over the past four months (November 5, 2012 and January 18 and
February 21, 2013) to grocery store headquarter offices to keep them informed of the City of Fort Collins’ interest in
limiting the use of disposable bags.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Work Session Summary, November 27, 2012
2. Air Quality Advisory Board Memo; Disposable Bags Recommendation, November 19, 2012
3. Summary of Public Comments - Reducing Disposable Bags
4. PowerPoint Presentation
Environmental Services
215 N. Mason
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221-6600
970.224-6177 - fax
fcgov.com
MEMO
DATE: November 30, 2012
TO: Mayor Weitkunat and Councilmembers
THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
Bruce Hendee, Chief Sustainability Officer
Lucinda Smith, Environmental Services Director
FROM: Susie Gordon, Sr. Environmental Planner
RE: Follow-up from November 27 Council Worksession: Reducing Disposable Bags
At the November 27 worksession, the City Council discussed options for reducing the amount of
disposable bags that are consumed in Fort Collins. Staff understands that we are directed to:
1. Continue working to increase awareness through education and outreach among citizens
about the practice of re-using shopping bags, including a comprehensive, user friendly
website
2. Explore the ability of the City to apply a tax or fee on both plastic and paper shopping bags at
grocery stores (using a specific definition for which stores are included), and
3. Look for ways to improve the availability of recycling for plastic “film” bags in Fort Collins.
Progress on the issue of a possible fee or tax on disposable grocery bags will require further
technical and financial analysis prior to preparation of an ordinance. It is estimated that the
required analysis could be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2013, which would allow
for further Council discussion after that time.
ATTACHMENT 1
Environmental Services Department
215 North Mason
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6600
970.224.6177 Fax
fcgov.com/environmentalservices
M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Mayor Weitkunat and Councilmembers
FROM: Greg McMaster, Chair, Air Quality Advisory Board
CC: Darin Atteberry, City Manager
DATE: November 19, 2012
SUBJECT: Disposable Bags Recommendation
______________________________________________________________________________
The AQAB received a presentation from staff in November that outlined options for reduction of
disposable bags including education only, impose a tax or fee, or ban disposable bags. The
Board discussed a range of environmental harms that occur from use of disposable bags,
including littering, harming wildlife and ecosystems, etc., and also recognized the problems
plastic bags cause in single stream recycling machinery. The Board discussed what they thought
would be appropriate next steps. All members favored Council taking action to correct the
problems caused by plastic bags, and the large minatory not supporting the motion was only
because they specifically wanted a stronger motion banning plastic bags at this time.
Please contact me if you have any questions or want additional detail on the recommendation.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input.
Dennis Georg moved and David Dietrich seconded a motion to recommend to Council that they adopt
ordinances that would significantly reduce plastic bags.
Vote 4-3-0-(4 supporting – 3 against– 0 abstained)
Scott Groen, Nancy York and Hugh Mackay dissented because they felt the motion was not
strong enough – they wanted plastic bags banned.
ATTACHMENT 2
1
Written Comments on Reducing Disposable Bags
Open House November 8, 2012
Poster 1 – “Your input is welcome”
1. The people want freedom and government off our backs!!! We don’t want to be another “Boulder”. We
want the use of plastic bags and cardboard boxes to continue. Don’t pass these laws against us. Leave us
alone! This whole thing is part of “Agenda 21” from the United Nations. They pay cities money and perks to
force us into “Agenda 21”.
Poster 2 – “Two Recycling Initiatives – draft proposals from staff”
1. No plastic bags in Fort Collins
2. Prohibit plastic bags
3. I favor a fee for bags preceding an outright ban.
4. Fees on paper and plastic bags a good idea – disincentive without a ban. People can do the math.
5. Don’t take away my freedom (disposable bags). Is it time to take our shopping outside of Fort Collins (the
No Choice City)
6. Love idea to drop plastic bags from shops! They are littering our city.
Poster 5 – “Three Bag-Reduction Strategies”
1. Charge small fee per bag. Include take-out from restaurants.
2. Prohibit plastic bags for groceries and all other shopping (Macy’s, Penny’s, etc.)
3. Don’t exempt any shopper. Allow to purchase a re-usable bag with food stamps.
4. Why exempt food stamp shoppers other than poverty. Why are they special? Don’t my limited funds count?
5. Paper bags leave a large carbon footprint. Between transportation and being only single use. Education,
more recycling.
6. Charge a fee for paper or plastic. I think poor people can participate.
7. Fee seems from studies to be most effective.
8. I hate dealing with plastic bags from a recycling standpoint. Plastic bags mixed in with just about anything
we collect contaminates the load at worst and at best create many additional man-hours to remove and
separate, which diminishes the value of recyclables. I would personally like to see a fee attached to the
bags. If someone wants the option of using that type of bag they can pay for all of the downstream expense
everyone else incurs. However, before putting into place, an exhaustive educational program needs to take
place focusing not only on the problems of the bags but also on OPTIONS. Could the City apply for a grant
to provide anybody that wanted re-usable bags with 2-3 bags for free to the user? Maybe bags 4-5 would
be at a small cost. City would then be reducing bags but would also be giving interested citizens a product
that when used, actually can generate a rebate or a credit at most stores. If this were all in place,
exhaustive education had been implemented and people still choose to use plastic, then let them pay a
small fee for that service.
Poster 6 – “Reducing Waste: Plastic Bag Initiative (Option 1- No Action)”
1. Doing nothing is simply not an option.
ATTACHMENT 3
2
2. We need to act. No action is not an option.
3. Not an option and still (be able to) claim green or sustainable city.
4. No action means more and more plastic bags clog and pollute (potentially) the environment. Need to do
something.
5. Unfortunately, many people do act like a “child”. Thus we have plastic bags around the countryside.
6. This is a problem. We’re late adapters here. Ban or restrict plastic.
7. Much preferred. I am an adult don’t treat me like a child!
8. People can learn to be responsible but some need a BIG push.
9. We need more education city wide.
Poster 7 – “Reducing Waste: Plastic Bag Initiative (Option 2- Fee or tax on plastic & paper bags)”
1. 1) Education about recycling 2) education about what other uses bags can be put to 3) list of existing bag
recycling locations: to make a realistic difference, implement a fee, probably 10 cents per bag for either
plastic or paper.
2. I would prefer no plastic but second choice is tax/charge for plastic at stores.
3. No fees. More education. People can’t afford it as it is now.
4. It’s more important to phase out single use plastic bags entirely. There may be too much opposition to this
option.
5. My first choice.
6. Me too (my first choice)!
7. Too hard to manage.
8. Need to keep working on this issue. It would be wonderful to end plastic bags in Fort Collins.
9. If there’s a fee, give to a specific group to make bags that work and are degradable. Education is a great
idea…we’re one of the brightest communities in the country!
10. I’d like to see either a fee charged by stores for plastic and paper bags, or a requirement that they provide a
bag credit to their customers for bringing either cloth or durable bags.
11. I don’t see why this is so hard. Bring your own bag to the store. It seems like a simple, inexpensive solution
to an environmental problem. Start with a bag fee if you have to. But work into a total ban on plastic bags.
There are better uses for petroleum.
12. Could the City or retailers provide bags as one-time offer to low income population?
13. We don’t need another tax. Stop promoting poverty!
14. Option 2 is the second best option.
15. Please make connections with GHG and trash in oceans and natural areas.
16. What would the tax be used for?
17. Like better than ban – make fee significant like $.25 or more per bag.
18. It would be nice if grocery stores took responsibility for this like Vitamin Cottage does.
Poster 8 – “Reducing Waste: Plastic Bag Initiative (Option 3- Ban on Plastic & Paper Bags)”
1. Plastic bags are the #2 pollutant in the ocean.
2. We should not be bettered by Bolder – we can do this here!
3. This would be my last choice – people like to be nudged in the correct direction, not jerked or shoved.
4. Natural Grocers has done this. Bring your own bags or put stuff in a box.
5. Ban Bags! We’ll learn to bring our own cloth bags.
3
6. I think the ban is unnecessary regulation for a very small portion of the waste stream. Focus on bigger
waste streams like yard waste and construction waste.
7. Best option. We’ll adjust
8. What is the carbon footprint of a “cloth” bag? Would be interesting to compare. Cloth (cotton) is farmed.
Agriculture is one of the biggest polluters. How much cotton goes into one bag? How many pounds of gas
used to farm, etc.?
9. Oh for heaven’s sake, they cost a dollar! The cheepie ones with a store logo.
10. A plastic bag ban should include paper as well. How hard is it to bring your own bag? I support a ban!
11. Sponsor or co-sponsor the documentary “Bag It”
12. Savings passed on to customers? What might that be?
13. We are not Boulder. Don’t like bags, don’t use them. Stop treading on me!
14. Plastic only.
15. If we ban, it needs to be coupled with an extensive education campaign.
Poster 9 – “Reducing Waste: Plastic Bag Initiative (Option 4- Education Campaign)”
1. Not effective enough. Not a big enough change.
2. Might as well do nothing.
3. Plastic bags are only part of the problem. What about other types of film products that get thrown out?
They are recycled in other cities. Please look at expanding plastic recycling.
4. “Edumaction do not werk”
5. Education does not work.
6. Help people to understand the consequences of more plastic bags and then encourage them to use re-
usable bags.
7. Won’t work
8. I agree (won’t work)
9. Place fee on bags from all shopping including restaurants. Proceed with education.
10. Education is fine. No loss of freedom. No new law. No more regulation. No need to take my tax dollars
outside of city.
11. Has to be paired with some concrete incentive to be effective – we can do more of this.
12. People should have choices. More education. More drop-off roll-offs at major stores. Let people know
where to drop off recyclables.
13. People should have the choice.
14. What about a combination of options? Begin education campaign in the beginning (6-8 months); continue
education campaign, begin fee for plastic bags to encourage people to stop using them. City can use fee
revenue for education (1 year). After 1.5 – 2 years, begin ban on bags, continue education campaign.
15. Would like first to see and education campaign – this has been successful in other cities/states in increasing
recycling while leaving the choice to the consumer. Education the consumer on the facts about each bag
(paper, plastic, reusable) and the carbon footprint of each.
16. Plastic bags; I seldom throw a plastic grocery bag in the trash. About once a month I take my collection to a
retailer that has a recycle bin. (More stores should be required to have such.) We use our newspaper bag
for dog poo and “bathroom” disposals (get about 700 or them/year from Coloradoan and Denver Post).
Let’s education only and not be an annex of Boulder.
4
Other Comments (e-mail, phone)
Subject: Recycling plastic bags
We use cloth bags much of the time from grocery stores, but we also like the availability of some plastic bags, and
would pay a nickel or something for them, because we use them for garbage bags and dog poop bags. Please don’t
ban them entirely.
Subject: Plastic bags
I have mixed emotions regarding the plastic bag issue. My wife and I use reusable bags always at the grocery stores.
This cuts our bag use by about 85%. At Outpost Sunsport, we do provide larger plastic bags for customers when they
are purchasing predominantly winter clothing. It wouldn’t be appropriate to put a new white ski jacket in the bag that
you have used at the grocery store the past 20 or 30 trips. I would prefer to offer more of a reusable product, but we
couldn’t afford to give them away and I am not sure someone would want to pay 4 or 5 dollars for one when they are
purchasing something from us.
Should the city decide to ban plastic bags, I would hope that there would be a fairly long time to implement this. I am
sure that I have somewhere between 12 and 24 months’ worth of bags in stock at this time. I would imagine a lot of
small retailers would be in a similar position.
Subject: Consideration of Fort Collins disposable bag policy
The Coloradoan recently reported on the City Council's upcoming consideration of policies to reduce the use of
disposable shopping bags. I am unable to attend the public “open house” on November 8th, but I wish to convey
three points on the matter:
1. Paper is worse than plastic. As the Brendle Group's review notes, banning or taxing plastic bags while omitting
paper bags would amount to foolish public policy. With respect to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – the
environmental impact of most concern to me – the production and disposal of a paper bag results in four times more
pollution than a plastic bag. Contrary to public perception, shifting from plastic to paper actually decreases
environmental quality. If the City Council is intent upon pursuing this matter, it must incentivize a shift from disposable
bags (whether paper or plastic) to reusable bags – preferably made of non-woven polypropylene, which is durable
and requires only about a dozen uses to confer a net GHG benefit over conventional plastic bags.
2. The cost-to-benefit ratio is high. The Brendle Group's review draws no conclusions regarding the likely overall
balance of social costs and benefits. A rough calculation using figures based on Boulder's proposed bag fee program
suggests such a policy would reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of $100 per ton CO2eq. This is
exceptionally high given the multitude of low-cost abatement options available to the City, particularly energy
efficiency incentives for buildings. Further, it is not clear why a contentious policy should be pursued – likely harming
future efforts for more meaningful environmental reforms – when the benefits are relatively small and cost
comparatively high.
3. Is this about results or appearance? That ostensibly “green” cities like San Francisco and Portland have banned
plastic bags should have no bearing on the City Council's decision. Those cities were guided by erroneous (though
well-meaning) public pressure rather than rational research and policymaking. Make no mistake: I am 100% in favor
of durable, reusable bags – my wife and I have used them for years – but only if the associated policy can deliver
tangible (rather than imagined or “feel good”) environmental benefits and is cost-effective compared to alternative
sustainability efforts. Further, citizens should not be given the impression that forgoing a plastic bag equates to
“saving the Earth”. The average consumer produces twice as much pollution driving their car to and from the
supermarket as they do using and throwing away a plastic bag. Let's be sure to direct environmental emphasis and
education where it belongs and ensure our public policies are optimal rather than fashionable.
Subject: Fort Collins Plastic bag proposals
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I do not know if this is the exact manner in which I should be making comments on the reusable grocery bags issue,
but I hope you will register my concerns in some manner.
I am opposed to the city's enacting regulations on this matter for several reasons.
1) I greatly dislike the increasingly intrusive reach of government into the lives of citizens on many levels. This is a
diminishment of freedom in my view and this alone is reason enough to object to this proposal.
2) I am not convinced that banning paper or plastic bags is an environmentally or economically wise effort. I have
read articles that suggest the environmental and other costs of reusable bags over their expected life cycle does not
in fact produce any savings over those same costs for using paper or plastic bags.
3) It is a great inconvenience for the shopper to have to provide his own bags. What happens if you are simply
forgetful and go to the grocery store without the appropriate bags? Some kind of penalty is then imposed, if no more
than to be forced to buy more bags (which includes any measure by the city to charge a fee for the use of other
bags).
4) I think there might well be health safety issues involved in reusing bags that could be contaminated. And if those
bags need laundering to prevent contamination, then of course that simply adds other environmental costs due to
increased use of water, soap, etc.
In my view, the city should let the free market determine such matters. If it is truly more cost effective to recycle
shopping bags, then the marketplace will make that feasible in a consumer-friendly manner. If not, why should
government force it down our throats?
Subject: Ban on Plastic Bags
Hello, I revieved my city news mailer a little late, and want to put my two cents in on this subject.
I am very pleased the council is looking at how we can help our environment and reduce our community waste. I
FULLY support a ban on plastic bags within the city of Fort Collins.
I would like to see a complete ban with an option to purchase paper bags. Also, perhaps the council could find a
portion of funding for allowing people to purchase reusable bags at a discount and make them readily available at
retail markets. Small boxes have been given away for free for some time in conscientious establishments such as
Vitamin Cottage (Natural Grocers). These are easily recycled at curbside and make carrying easy.
I do hope the council will take my comments into consideration and make a bold move to ban plastic bags in Fort
Collins. I trust the council is making an educated and wise decision in these matters for the future of our environment.
Survey Gizmo Responses/Comments on Reducing Disposable Bags
Report Generated: November 27, 2012 at 2:24 p.m.
134 Complete – Nov 27, 2012 (1:34 PM)
I am opposed to charging for plastic bags for the following reasons: 1. Cost with little benefit. It will add about $1-2/
week for families and will not save the planet. It is effectively another city tax. 2. Inconvenient to carry a bunch of
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other bags to pick up groceries. I like to idea of a Coloradoan op ed. Let stores give a 3 cent reimbursement for those
who do not us plastic bags.
133 Complete – Nov 27, 2012 (1:20 PM)
As with the cardboard issue that is being discussed, I believe that as a community we can achieve a much higher
diversion rate through education of our citizens. Penalizing the consumer for the use of plastic bags isn't in our
community's best interest right now due to the number of families that are struggling. Further, asking businesses to
absorb more cost to increase cardboard recycling efforts will drive the cost of business up. And these costs will be
passed directly to the consumer.
Educating the public as to how these items can be effectively recycled or reused, and collaborating with the various
disposal companies in town and ask them to offer the correct dispensers for this purpose will go a long way. As I
heard recently in a presentation from City Staff, many items that citizens currently place into recycle bins aren't even
recycled. Education is the key, as most of our population is educated and want to do their part. Make it simple and
easy. Also, assuming that most consumers simply throw away their plastic bags and cardboard is very short sighted.
Most people that I have spoken to about this do recycle what they can, consumers and businesses alike.
Cooperation and education before regulation.
132 Complete – Nov 27, 2012 (12:35 PM)
Would it be better to use the doggie poo bags (provided by the City) from my local park to carry my groceries home
in? It doesn't make sense to me to ban or pay a fee for plastic bags at grocery stores. What about all the restaurants
and other retailers in town who send items home in a plastic bag? Are they exempt, or is it going to cost us more to
shop everywhere? Talk about a Fiscal Cliff!
131 Complete – Nov 27, 2012 (8:58 AM)
My comments are simple, 1. Why did you bury this announcement in the recycling section? This should have been
on the main home page for the city. 2. I will simply do most of my shopping in our sister cities and not in Fort Collins,
if you are worried about pollution add the extra gas to drive to these other cities. 3. We recycle so much that as a
family of 4 we rarely have more than 1/2 of a 33 gallon trash can full per week, but we still HAVE to take our plastic
bags to the store to recycle them as Fort Collins will not take them!!!! 4. You forget that cloth bags MUST be washed
between uses if they carry meat or produce. If you add that in the equation they are FAR worse than plastic bags for
energy use. 5. Does this also include the plastic bags you put produce in?
130 Complete – Nov 27, 2012 (8:38 AM)
Keep consumer choice. It seems this city always wants to implement anything Boulder implements. We reuse all of
our plastic bags and without them, we will purchase plastic bags to replace the ones we reuse.
129 Complete – Nov 26, 2012 (9:40 PM)
Hello! I support banning plastic bags and having a fee for paper bags. It is SO easy to carry a few reusable shopping
bags around in the car, or on the bicycle. Given the huge problem that plastic bags cause, just having a fee when
used will not reduce their use enough. These plastic bags take such a long time to decompose, and are light enough
to be carried by the wind many miles, and many end up in the ocean. Please ban the plastic bag! Thank you!!
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128 Complete – Nov 26, 2012 (8:14 PM)
I'm concerned that Fort Collins seems to have to follow in Boulder's footsteps. If liberal Boulder is doing it, by golly,
we'd better get on the same bandwagon and do it too. Again, don't clog the city's ordinances and regulations with
trivial matters. Use education to accomplish your goals at reducing use of plastic/paper bags. Single use bags are re-
used many, many times over. They are not always simply tossed in the trash. The reusable bags (many of them have
plastic components too- gasp!) are handy, but they are not readily available to everyone. Maybe it is not much to
some people, but there are families in our fair city who watch every penny. So now the city (oops, I mean taxpayers)
will be funding supplies of reusable bags. And don't forget the studies about the bacteria living in those bags-- nasty
stuff that you are advocating for! So, some of this is tongue-in-cheek, but really! Educate, don't regulate people! Don't
"regulate" when "educate" will accomplish your goals.
127 Complete – Nov 26, 2012 (4:35 PM)
Plastic kills at least 2 million birds, whales, dolphins, seals, seal lions and turtles every year. 100 million tons of
plastic has entered the world's oceans. The amount of plastic doubles in the worlds oceans every three years. Plastic
does not dissolve; it breaks into tiny pieces and stays there for up to 1,000 years, contaminating soil, waterways and
oceans and entering the food web when eaten by animals. There is an easy, clean, inexpensive alternative to plastic
bags. Simply bring your own cloth or other reusable bags. How hard is that?
126 Complete – Nov 25, 2012 (8:40 PM)
Wanted to leave input as to limiting the use of plastic bags. I do understand efforts to reduce use of plastic, but am
still waiting on an alternative to lining household trash cans. No one wants to clean the interiors of kitchen or
bathroom trash cans that have not been lined. Plastic is especially useful in the kitchen for moist and wet disposal of
cooking items. Plastic is needed for feminine hygiene products in bathroom trash. If we stop lining our cans and must
wash them once a day, we are now being poor stewards with a very precious Colorado resource -- water!! When
Whole Foods first ceased use of plastic bags, I asked the checkout clerk what people were using to line their trash
cans. She very perkily replied that they purchase trash can liners. Why would I purchase plastic bags to line my trash
cans, when I now receive them free of charge when purchasing groceries? I never throw away my plastic grocery
bags, never. I do reuse them to line trash cans. Please don't take my trash bags away!! A reuser, a recycler & a
repurposer
125 Complete – Nov 25, 2012 (1:41 PM)
I am not in support of the city's pending decision to establish a fee for plastic bags. I, and many many of my friends,
reuse plastic bags for trash can liners, pet cleanup, crafts, storing items, transporting items we donate to charities,
and numerous other uses. Grocery stores are our main source of these bags, and if prohibited or charged a fee, we
will be forced to purchase plastics. That it only creating more production of plastics. FC residents have taken great
strides to reduce landfill trash. Give us some credit and don't keep pushing until we become another city to be
mocked, like Boulder. I think the city's already wasted tax payer dollars on commissioning studies, which suggest
further studies on the matter. Since when has the "reuse" portion of the recycle triangle become a negative?
124 Complete – Nov 25, 2012 (9:25 AM)
Hello, I do support some kind of effort to reduce the number of bags that we use, although I do not support an
outright ban. I bring my own canvas bags to the store, but there are times when it's not ideal. Plastic bags work great
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for meats at the grocery store, food take out, and anything with the potential to leak. If my laundry detergent comes
open in my canvas bag, it will soak through the canvas and get all over everything. In those cases I like the option of
having a plastic bag instead.
However I notice the most waste when I don't need a bag - I bought a single light bulb at Home Depot yesterday and
before I could say anything I was having it handed to me in a bag. This is the over-delivery of plastic bags that I
believe we are all targeting. Maybe the first answer is to strongly encourage all local businesses to only give a bag
when one is requested. Thanks for taking the effort to open discussion on this matter - I hope you all can come up
with a reasonable answer to reduce the plastic trash that we needlessly produce. thanks
123 Complete – Nov 24, 2012 (9:40 PM) I fully support a plastic bag ban in the Fort Collins city.
122 Complete – Nov 23, 2012 (8:01 PM)
Regulation of plastic bags is not a proper role of government. Our council wasn't elected to pursue a role as parents
of a community of juvenile citizens. I can make my own responsible decisions to recycle cardboard and whether I
want to use my own shopping bags.
121 Complete – Nov 23, 2012 (4:11 PM) Please do not ban or charge for plastic bags. Encourage re-use and
recycling
120 Complete – Nov 23, 2012 (10:08 AM)
Oh, one other thought. Don't turn this into a political issue. Please, don't start trying to sway public opinion by
spending our tax dollars to put up anti-plastic bag and anti-paper bag posters, etc. Thanks.
119 Complete – Nov 23, 2012 (10:05 AM)
Hi---i agree that we need to not throw the plastic bags in the trash. However, let's not Boulderize Fort Collins. DO
NOT ban the plastic bags. I would put my efforts in better recycling of the bags. Some reward for recycling them at
the checkout counter? Maybe 5 cents/bag for every one you bring in to recycle.
118 Complete – Nov 21, 2012 (2:01 PM)
Leave plastic bags alone! I can think of MANY instances where not being given a plastic bag when purchasing
something will be a nuisance, an inconvenience, and just plain stupid.
117 Complete – Nov 21, 2012 (3:35 AM)
Although I am a longtime Fort Collins resident, I've been living in Europe for the past six months where plastic bags
are banned by the EU. It is so easy to use a reusable bag. I just bring them to the store with me and I also keep a
small nylon bag in my purse that unfolds if I purchase something on the go. If by chance I need a bag, they are
available for sale at usually one Euro or less. The great thing is that there is less litter and it helps keep trash out of
landfills. Fort Collins should do this for the environment.
116 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:10 PM)
I completely support a ban or surcharge on plastic bags. I recently watched the documentary "Bag It," and I haven't
looked at plastic bags the same way since. I really hope my community will support this!
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115 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (10:30 PM) Charge both for plastic and paper bags.
114 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (9:17 PM)
I would vote for a ban on plastic and they keep paper for a season but push the cloth bags to the consumers.
113 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:01 PM) Get rid of plastic bags!
112 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:43 PM)
I am personally a huge supporter of the banning of plastic bags. Many other cities and countries have done this and
have been successful. I truly hope that this is something that will pass here in town.
111 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:34 PM)
I would FULLY support a plastic bag ban in this city!!!! Vitamin Cottage has been successful with this in town as
Whole Foods too. This would be an EXCELLENT way for our city to take a stand and do something GOOD for all. I
have not personally used plastic bags for a couple of years now and it has been fine! You get used to bringing your
own bags with you! I say LETS DO IT!!!!
110 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (5:50 PM)
I realize that plastic bags are a problem if not disposed of properly. We've all seen then blowing around the yard and
wish people would be more thoughtful when disposing of ALL TRASH. I reuse all of my plastic bags I get, whether it
is the bag from my newspaper carrier or the bag my toilet papet rolls are wrapped in. If plastic bags are banned, it
would be a real inconvenience to those of us who reuse them.
Thanks for listening. I think the trash from cigarettes, alcohol and fast food restaurants is a bigger problem than
plastic bags.
109 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (5:17 PM)
Please fire Fort Collins' Senior Envirnonmental Planner and all employees of the Environmental Department. It is
obvious that we are wasting money on these positions. Ms. Gordon job seems to be to find problems where none
exist. As a college educated person, I am quite capable of choosing paper, plastic, a reusable bag, or no bag at all.
But, it is MY CHOICE, NOT Ms. Gordon's or the City Council's. Please stop infringing on our freedoms. Stay out of
my life. NOTE: Reusable bags have been shown to spread food borne illnesses by improper cleaning. These include:
Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus and many more. The City Council's
constant intrusions in my life forces me to do my shopping outside of the city limits to reduce the amount of sale tax
dollars coming to these progressive dictators.
108 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (4:37 PM)
It seems unfair for Ft. Collins to dictate to consumers that come to town for shoping and leave town to go back home
with their bags. Maybe we all should shop elsewhere.
107 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (4:11 PM) No! on more regulation - let the stores make their own decisions!
106 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (2:39 PM) Please ban plastic bags. That is all!
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105 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (1:43 PM)
I do not want the City of Fort Collins restricting the use of plastic bags at stores. I don't believe the City government
should have any say in that whatsoever.
104 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (1:03 PM)
The whole bag debate smacks of social engineering and is a colossally bad idea. If you have landfill issues, raise the
prices at the landfill. Otherwise, the City should butt out of these environmental issues and fix the roads. I am not
paying taxes to support the Green Movement and I would rather pay fewer taxes than more taxes.
103 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:53 PM)
I love my plastic bags and paper bags they have so many useful purposes. You are taking a product the store
supplies me with to carry my product home in making me pay for it out of my pocket directly. More money out of my
pocket when there isn't any to take. Do I haul all my groceries home piece by piece to my vehicle and then into my
home? I do not want people bringing those dirty re-usable bags into a public place and spreading diseases and who
knows what. That is just plain gross.
Let the landfills sort out and recycle if it isn't good to bury this garbage in the ground. I pay them. Please DO NOT
force us to have to pay a high price for taking me products home from a store i have enough to think about without
always carrying around my reusable disposable dirty bags.
102 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:47 PM)
I would argue these bags aren't "single-use" bags. Everyone I know uses them to pack lunches, pick up after dogs,
line trash cans in their homes, etc. They are being recycled!
101 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:42 PM)
Your poll is biased by forcing the ordering of tax 'choices.' There should be a simple choice for 'no tax at all' so you
do not interpret the results to think that voters want the other tax choices as an alternative.
100 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:35 PM)
Please stop trying to regulate everything under the sun. Focus on the out of date sewer systems in NW Fort Collins,
and dealing with the huge traffic problems we are dealing with. Regulating plastic bags is just a "feel good" effort. It
will have almost no effect in the big picture. Less government equals more.
99 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:30 PM)
We do not need to pay for additional government employees for unnecessary government regulation. Most stores
already offer a discount for people who bring their own bags. We already need, use, re-use and recycle all of our
plastic and paper bags.
98 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:29 PM)
I just wanted to share my two cents. I am not in favor of a plastic bag ban. It would be an unneccessary intrusion into
business, and local grocery stores are perfectly capable of deciding what type of bagging to offer their customers.
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Customers already have plenty of options if they wish to avoid plastic bags, and these options are well known.
Speaking for myself, the bags I take home from shopping get used repeatedly for small household trashcans, to
dispose of dog waste, to bring lunch to work, etc. If City Council decided to make these plastic bags unavailable at
the store, I would just end up buying the same number of bags anyway for each of these uses. Talk about wasteful. If
the city wants to get serious about reducing waste and increasing recycling, they should set up single-stream
recycling. As it stands now, I don't even have the option to recycle in my condo because the HOA won't pay for it.
That is the case in many parts of the city, a problem that would be solved by single-stream. A ban on plastic bags
would be misguided overreach, and it would leave a bad taste in the mouths of many in this town.
97 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (12:20 PM)
I am 100% for charging people to use plastic bags. We always carry our own bags to the store & it is a very easy &
inexpensive habit. I cannot think of one good reason that these should be offered for free. If people had to pay $0.05
or $0.10 for a bag, they might be more inclined to bring their own bags. The environmental impact of using plastic
bags is huge. http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_bag_facts
We need to think of the future when we consider this issue. Charging for bags is a small thing that we can do to help
make the world a better place for future generations.
96 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:54 AM)
I feel we need a change due to the wasteful use of plastic bags. I bring my own bags, and think that reusable bags
should be available for purchase but that we should put restrictions on plastic bags.
95 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:51 AM)
Platic bags from the grocery store are made in the USA. While reusable bags are typically made in China. Why would
the city of Ft. Collins attach US jobs in favor of persuading us to buy more Chinese goods. These bags made in
China have been found to contain lead and other harmful substances. Many gorcery store plastic bags are reused
several time before going for disposal. For lunch bags, pet waste, trash can liners. Eliminating grocery store bags will
create increased purchases of other small bags, contributing to the problem you are trying to eliminate. I do not buy
anything made in China. If Fort Collins places a ban or fee in affect, I will switch to paper bags. If paper bags are
assessed a fine, I will take my shopping to Loveland, Windsor, or Greeley. I hope you make up my tax dollars with
the fee you would be charging others. Please use common sense on this and do more research. There is no need for
this in our Community.
94 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:50 AM)
Banning bags is unnecessary. City needs to step back and let consumers be consumers. Promote re-usable bags,
but don't make it a law.
93 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:40 AM)
Banning or charging for bags, plastic or paper, is an unnecessary intrusion of government on businesses. Individual
businesses and their customers should decide the level of service, convenience or environmentalism they wish to
provide. Many people reuse bags and many grocery stores provide bag recycling bins. If the city feels it absolutely
must address this issue, it should not go beyond an education effort. Please stop trying to Boulderize Fort Collins.
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92 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (11:06 AM)
Don't burden us with additional regulations. Instead of penalizing the common course of action, why don't you
promote the 'correct' course of action instead. Try leading instead of dictating. We have had enough of this big
government agenda. If your ideas are so great the people will accept them on their own without a city government
intervening and burdening the people with more regulation.
91 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (10:31 AM)
Like most in the community, I reuse my Safeway plastic bags for numerous uses. They carry my lunch to work, they
come back home and line my bathroom trash cans, and there are many, many other uses. The litter bugs that allow
them to blow down the street are the problem. Educate, like cigarette use. Fine the abusers and don't punish me by
having to buy plastic bags.
90 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (10:04 AM)
I am one of the many citizens who reuse my plastic bags - for doggie pickup, lining my wastebaskets, etc. I am not in
favor of a ban, but would instead prefer more opportunities for recycling plastic bags. A more critical issue, in my
opinion, is diversion of yard waste from the landfill. Most progressive cities have had recycling of yard waste available
for years. It seems short-sighted of Fort Collins to still require citizens to pay a fee to Hageman or Weitzel in order to
make better use of our yard waste.
89 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (10:04 AM)
I am totally in favor of a plastic bag ban but I fear the backlash of an uninformed community. I think most people
believe it is just more Government interference. So scary! I believe that education of the receptive masses ( the
unreceptive are lost as always..) would be the first step ( waste issues-petroleum usage-issues recycling, export of
our recyclables for processing) Even my 'thoughtful' neighbors use plastic and paper grocery bags possibly thinking
that since they are such good recyclers, those bags are not a problem. They throw ALL glass, plastic and paper in
their curbside containers. Their intent is good although uninformed. Small print on utility invoices is not read in
today's busy world. Somehow, these issues need to smack people in the face. Get more people on your side of the
issue before it is attempted. and GOOD LUCK!
88 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (10:03 AM)
Absolutly just stop spending any time or resources on this non-issue. Plastic is not evil. I will only have to purchase
500+ trash bags and lunch sacks and quick pack sleep over supply carriers. on and on. What if I just purchase bulk
convienient, lightwieght, inexpensive, strong bags with handles do I get a pass on the fees? Stop wasting time on
this, really.
87 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (9:59 AM)
I think it is an excellent idea. We need to be a model of sustainability, not just talk about it. Please forge ahead with
this issue.
86 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (9:50 AM)
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We opt for plastic bags most of the time. We use them as trash bags in our bathrooms. We use them for lunch bags.
We use them for numerous purposes when traveling and camping. They hold a pair of shoes in a suitcase to keep
clothes clean. They hold dirty undies as well. The bags we don't use we drop off at the recycling stations - since they
aren't allowed in our curbside recycling container. I think a ban on plastic shopping bags is not a good idea. We do
also use reusable bags. They have to be sanitized and washed often which uses water and hazardous chemicals.
They take up space in the car, you don't have them all the time in your back pocket do you? There is no free lunch
folks.
83 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (9:13 AM)
What about trash can liner bags? There is probably as much total plastic in the waste system from trash can bags as
there is from the little grocery bags!
85 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:36 AM)
I disagree with the idea of banning plastic bags or charging for them. I reuse mine frequently. I also recycle them at
the grocery store when I have too many. Furthermore, they come in handy in a lot of household applications. For
instance, I use them for my primary trash bags (therefore I do not not buy official trash bags). My pet waste is put in
them (so I am not buying other plastic pet disposal bags). I use them for bathroom trash, lunches, taking food to other
places. As you can see, by banning them, you only force people to go out and buy other plastic bags for their needs.
82 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:34 AM)
I am starting to get real sick of the city telling me what to do with my life!!!! This city is so far up the butt's of the
citizens. Charge a fee like the other 50 cities in the US. This is a small town that use to be about agriculture and now
it is like living in a giant HOA. Stop trying to make this some great utopia. It was better 15 years ago.Now, my family
is starting to think about moving, I honestly thought I would retire here.
81 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:16 AM)
Banning plastic bags!!! Are you kidding me. Do we have to do everything Boulder does? The earth has been here for
billions of years, survived massive volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, impacts of giant asteroids, solar flares,
continental drift, ice ages, numerous periods of global warming, and we're worried about plastic bags?!!
The earth will survive long, long after human life has disappeared. Lets forget trying to become "Fort Boulder" and go
back to using common sense.
80 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:04 AM)
Our grocery store already gives a 5 cent discount for using our own bags. Please leave it at that. By the way, if a fee
were imposed, where does the money go?
76 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (8:01 AM)
I reuse plastic bags for everything from storage to taking out daily trash as do my neighbors please do not remove
this multitasking wonder.
79 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:53 AM)
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I like the fact that Sprouts credits the customer 5 cents for each bag they bring in. Perhaps King Soopers, Safeway, &
Target would agree to a promotional period to do the same (at least for check out assisted lanes - perhaps not for
self check out). If it comes to charging for bags, the bags should be ones that could be used more than once for
groceries - like Target bags. The King Soopers & Safeway bags are so thin that they barely make it home intact.....so
they automatically go in my "recyclable collection" ....but if they were a bit stronger, they could be reused as a
grocery bag additional times before ending up in the bag collection boxes at the grocery store. It's nice to have plastic
bags - esp. for wet foods / meat.
78 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:46 AM)
If you want to raise people's awareness of an issue, don't start from a punitive position. Start with education. You
have not even done that yet. Are you imitating Boulder? If I wanted to live there, I would not have left. Why would you
skip all steps and even consider going directly to punishment and banning? I am disappointed and bewildered by the
Draconian method by which you have introduced this issue to the community. Even your introduction style is going to
create negative feelings about the campaign. You should have consulted with a PR firm first, because you are really
going about this backwards. I always recycle bags. I use plastic shopping bags to pick up the dog's poop. If I did not
do that, I would have to use the bags that the city provides or buy manufactured bags, which sort of defeats the
purpose, don't you think? I always believed I was saving the city money by recycling my bags and not using the ones
they provided with our tax dollars, and was helping the environment by not purchasing dog poop bags from Pet
Smart. Please use your brains and don't jump on some progressive bandwagon that you think will make Fort Collins
sound like Boulder and Portland. That's not why we pay taxes to hire you, and it is not the goal of most citizens for
this town to become a northern version of Boulder. You work for the citizens. Do not lose sight of this. Look at the
long-term impact. Be smart and do education. And when you do that education, tell the massive percentage of dog
owners in the city how they can pick up poop without using plastic bags from grocery stores, and without generating
the manufacturing of even more new bags specifically for dog poop.
77 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:42 AM)
Years and years and years ago, I made a set of reusable grocery bags. After more than a decade, the handles are
wearing out and making a new set of bags is on my "to do" list. Hence, I am an individual who has been doing her
part to reduce the number of plastic grocery bags in landfills since LONG before it was "the cool" thing to do. Over
the years, I have noticed more and more people toting their reusable bags through stores. I no longer get nasty looks
from baggers when I hand them my reusable bags. Baggers have also stopped stuffing my bags so full that the fabric
rips when I try to lift them out of the cart. This change has been the result of more people using reusable bags. In the
past, I was apparently the only person using reusable bags who wasn't a militant "tree hugger". In those days,
baggers would frequently be chewed out by reusable bag shoppers with an overflowing cart and two fabric grocery
bags. Those folks wanted the bags packed super full so that no disposable bags would be used. With the general
public now choosing reusable bags, things have changed. All of this data indicates to me that a mindset has changed
and a behavior change is following closely behind. I don't believe a city policy is needed to make this change. Let's
trust the folks of Fort Collins to make this change on their own. I truly have noticed great leaps made on this issue in
just the past five years. Please, be patient and just give us some time.
75 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:25 AM)
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We do not need another govt regulation! We all have brains & can use them! We know where bags go & can get
them there, we don't need more nanny state regulations! If I am charged for plastic I will purchase less, only what fits
in my reusable bags, hurting merchants & lowering income from sales tax.
74 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (7:06 AM) Ban them! We can out-liberal Boulder!
84 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (6:54 AM)
I tried to submit my opinion online about the plastic/paper bags but it wouldn't let me reorder the choices so it
submitted exactly as it was. I hope that wasn't the case for other people as well because my choices were submitted
incorrectly. I'm afraid this might affect the results of your poll. I am strongly in favor of a ban on all plastic
grocery/shopping bags and a fee charged for paper bags. A lot of people still don't care much about the environment
unless they feel the effects themselves. Maybe if they had to pay for bags, they would start making an effort to bring
their own.
Thank you!
72 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (6:25 AM)
I am against this. I have reusable bags and I use them when I remember to put them in my car. I don't want to have
to supply each of our vehicles with a set of bags just so I have them with me at all times. I also don't like having to
carry bags around with me while I am shopping. I feel for the parents that are already toting around all of the stuff for
their children and then to tell them they have to carry bags just in case they buy something is nuts. Do not ban plastic
bags. What about the low income folks and college students. They can't afford the food much less the bag to put it in.
73 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (6:25 AM) I am totally opposed to this.
71 Complete – Nov 20, 2012 (2:07 AM)
It's embarrassing that our city is actually considering this. Please don't take this seriously. Do not ban bags, do not
charge for bags, do not change anything. This is a complete joke
70 Complete – Nov 19, 2012 (7:35 PM) We support this initiative - tired of seeing plastic bags on every fence in
Colorado.
69 Complete – Nov 19, 2012 (7:33 PM)
Stop micromanaging our lives! This is ridiculous. Leave us alone. If a grocer wants to implement this and it results in
loyal customers the market will determine.
68 Complete – Nov 19, 2012 (7:29 PM)
Absolutely not!!!!! This is just stupid, and will have so many unintended consequences!! Not everywhere you go can
you carry a reusable bag. What happens when you need to buy embarrassing items at the store and don't have your
own bag? What about a bag that tears after you have paid but not yet left...does a cashier have to ring in a 10 cent
transaction so I can pay with a credit card? If i take a bag because mine ripped but don't pay 10 cents is that theft
and can i go to jail? Maybe make some better decisions like asking grocers to use soy based bags or something...but
this is just a stupid way of imposing more and more and more and more fees onto citizens...all while our paychecks
are going down or disappearing all together!!! This isn't Boulder! Get a mind of your own for criminy sakes! This is not
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the right way to help the environment. Didn't we do this same thing back in the 70's with paper bags? And guess
what? We STILL have paper bags in stores. STOP METTLING IN PEOPLE'S LIVES!!! This is not something city
council should have any say in!
67 Complete – Nov 19, 2012 (6:21 PM)
No ban. Ordinance requiring retailers distributing plastic bags to provide prominent recycling stations.
66 Complete – Nov 19, 2012 (1:16 AM)
I agree with banning plastic bags. I know in my household alone we go through tons of plastic bags if we forget to
bring reusable ones. We donate any bags to be recycled once again, but many households simply throw them away.
If my small household could be doing that much damage while still attempting to maintain a doable level of recycling,
it raises the question... how many resources are being wasted in Fort Collins alone? It may bring frustration to
citizens not as aware of their surroundings at first, but I believe it is a step in the right direction. I am all for it!
65 Complete – Nov 18, 2012 (6:45 PM)
NO regulation of plastic bags. THERE IS NO PROBLEM! 1. Has a study been done to measure the impact of plastic
bags on Fort Collins? 2. How many bags are picked up on an annual basis? 3. What is the cost of this pickup? 4. Do
we really have a plastic bag problem? 5. Is the issue the improper disposal of the bags or the bags themselves? 6. If
it is improper disposal than go after the persons improperly disposing of the bags. 7. Is it truly more energy efficient to
buy and reuse bags made in china? 8. More plastic bags fit in the same space as one reusable bag therefore more
cargo ships would be needed to transport reusable bags from China. 9. Is this the will of the people? 10. Are City
Council forgetting they are the PEOPLES representatives not their caretakers? 11. In an article in the Coloradan it
was sited that some cities reward, rather than penalize their citizens for using reusable. Positive reinforcement is the
better tool to change habits you get less resentment! 12 If you charge for the use of plastic bags isn't it just a hidden
way for the city to increase revenues? 13 Would the revenue be used solely for the cleanup and proper disposal of
plastic bags? 14 How would this potential move disrupt the business community? 15. Delays in checkout as baggers
have to deal with varying bag sizes etc. 16. What about potential spreading of disease? Would a bag with spoiled
food particles in it be more likely to spread e-coli or the like? I am not in favor of a ban or added tax on plastic bags. I
have seen a VERY small number of bags in trees or in fences, BUT not more than paper or other wastes improperly
dispose of. Thank you for your time and please remember it is NOT your will that needs to be done as a member of
government it is THE PEOPLES’, so be sure you are representing ALL the people.
64 Complete – Nov 18, 2012 (10:32 AM)
Hi, The Green Store downtown uses plastic bags that are biodegradable and are made from corn. I can't imagine
why we couldn't get everyone including the big chain grocery stores to use them. I also think we should have
compost dumpsters at a few sites to keep plant matter that most people put in their trash cans out of the dump.
Subsidize the green garbage cans? I don't have the answer. I pay for the green can as I hate to go to the dump and I
don't have a truck to haul it around in, but most people don't have an extra $12.00/month for yard waste. Good luck!
63 Complete – Nov 16, 2012 (7:41 PM)
So why can't there be a way to recycle them like many other items? I was a kid in high school when the book "1984"
came out; the concept of having so much of what we do monitored by Others Who Know Better was shocking then, &
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still repellent today. Yes, the gov't has important roles in our lives---making the streets safe, etc. but it needs to stop
sticking its nose into every aspect of people's lives. A good example was the lo-flush toilets they compelled everyone
to purchase. Didn't work--I have heard plumbers say to hang onto the original ones. So now we have Toilet
Hoarders!!
62 Complete – Nov 16, 2012 (7:02 PM)
Hello! I'd love to see a ban of both plastic and paper bags in our city. Thank you so much!
61 Complete – Nov 15, 2012 (1:45 PM)
I think we should have a fee on paper and plastic disposable bags. Aren't most grocery stores doing this now
already?
60 Complete – Nov 15, 2012 (12:34 PM)
YES YES YES. What are we waiting for? Reduce plastic bags by whatever means necessary.
59 Complete – Nov 14, 2012 (6:42 PM)
Hi, I'm all in favor of a different bag policy in this city! I'm not sure if we should ban the bags altogether, but if there
were an alternative way to bag groceries and goods that would be awesome! The Food Co-op uses boxes as well as
bags, and there must be compostable bags somewhere... if not, not a bad business idea. Anyway, cheers to this new
forward thinking!
58 Complete – Nov 14, 2012 (9:48 AM)
True, banning plastic grocery bags limits personal choice, but so does driving on the right side of the road. Some
things are so obviously for our own good they're no brainers. Giving up this small convenience for the sake of our
planet's health through whatever methods are most effective is definitely a step in the right direction.
57 Complete – Nov 12, 2012 (6:51 PM)
I admire the commitment of Ft Collins to encourage recycling. However, I don't agree with prohibiting disposal of
cardboard in trash nor in limiting use of disposable bags. Encouraging use of reusable bags is admirable but the
disposable bags provided by stores are often reused for numerous activities, i.e., participants in the McBackPack
program bring their grocery bags to repack bags for distribution of groceries to children. There are numerous other
examples. I support encouraging recycling of cardboard and bags but not penalizing for their disposal.
56 Complete – Nov 11, 2012 (1:47 PM)
If Fort Collins were to enact a ban or fee for a plastic shopping bag it will be the last time I buy groceries in Fort
Collins.
55 Complete – Nov 10, 2012 (5:43 PM)
I'm all for banning or charging extra money for plastic shopping bags.
54 Complete – Nov 9, 2012 (11:46 PM)
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Susie, I am so glad this issue is a concern. This is what I think needs to happen: First: educational outreach to help
create more awareness to the Fort Collins citizens and stores Second: A time frame for eliminating single use bags
Third: A Single Use Carry Out Bag Ordinance which includes Single-use plastic carry out bags are prohibited. This
includes all plastic bags less than 2.25 mils thick provided at check out or point of sale. Customers must be charged
5 cents per large paper bag. Retailers keep the revenue from the 5-cent charge, which is taxable and must be shown
on sales receipts. Large paper bags requiring the 5-cent charge must be a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer
recycled fiber and the fiber content must be marked on the outside. Smaller paper bags may be provided with or
without charge at the store’s discretion. Thick plastic bags — 2.25 mil or greater — are deemed reusable and may be
provided with or without charge at the store’s discretion. Plastic bags used for restaurant take-out foods and meats
and produce in grocery stores will still be allowed, because of the public health functions they provide.
53 Complete – Nov 8, 2012 (7:35 PM)
I applaud the City of Fort Collins for taking on this issue of plastic bags. I, for a long time, have personally worried
about the environmental impact of these low cost high use bags. Obviously, what is cheap and convenient is not
always best for us or the planet. Of the three proposed directions, I would back charging a fee for the use of plastic
bags charged to consumers. In the best case this would only apply to local businesses and we would ban the use of
plastic bags from our national chains. i.e., King Soopers, Safeway, Alberstons,Walmart, Home Depot. Etc. I realize
this is probably a no-go politically but I thought I would suggest the idea.
Good luck, and I hope we, Fort Collins, will lessen our footprint by reducing the use of plastic bags.
52 Complete – Nov 8, 2012 (6:52 PM)
My guess is that we will never recover the cost of the effort already spent on this idea. Looks like lots of work done
with slick brochure and all the research etc. The analysis is incomplete. It does not look at the total life cycle and get
an estimate of overall impact. For example: without plastic bags from the grocery, I will have to buy more garbage
bags to use around the house. So no decrease in bags and added cost to consumers. Another example: all food
stores now wrap meat in plastic bags (in addition to the packaging) to prevent leakage all over yourself and car. Will
this be outlawed too? You get the idea. When Governments don't look at the total system we get the inevitable result
of unintended consequences. Looking at the list of cities which have adapted this sort of regulation is not a good
example for Fort Collins. They are mostly high income, elitist nanny towns. Not really the kind of places we wish to
emulate. My guess is peer pressure and a trendy reusable bag campaign will get most everyone to do the right thing.
Also, we don't have to increase the cost of living and shopping in our great city.
51 Complete – Nov 8, 2012 (9:28 AM)
I think all bags should be banned. Vitamin Cottage recycles their produce and grocery boxes and fills those for
customers who do not bring their own bags. This system has worked for them for a long time. This is the idea model
for our community.
50 Complete – Nov 8, 2012 (7:50 AM)
When I don't have my cloth shopping bags, I use my jacket or simply place groceries unbagged on the floor of the
car. The next step will be to stop placing groceries we buy, prebagged in plastic. Shoppers can hasten that day by
selecting unbagged produce.
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49 Complete – Nov 8, 2012 (4:50 AM)
I am tired of this never ending attempt at social engineering in this city. First it is tiered utility and water rates, then it
is trying to force only selected trash hauling companies, then it is trying to ensure only certain foods are fed to the
school kids. How is it environmentally friendly to see that most cloth bags are made in China with who knows what
kinds of chemicals in them and then the waste of energy and production of air pollution to have them shipped here. I
took my usual walk the day the Coloradoan article ran, along Timberline through Sunstone and English Ranch
subdivisions, through Front Range Village and along Harmony Rd-I did not see one plastic bag. What I saw was dog
poop not picked up, cigarette packs, food wrappers, aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles. Most merchants I use
are now asking if I even want bags and the bags I have are used many times. This is a hardship on low income
people who are having difficulty making ends meet as it is. Thank you.
48 Complete – Nov 7, 2012 (3:18 PM)
I oppose a outright ban on plastic bags. I am handicapped and use a cane and carry oxygen. My hands are full and
the only bags that I can carry for my groceries are the plastic bags with handles. I do get double use out of them
since I use them as trash bags. By not buying trash bags I save 50% from the landfill.
47 Complete – Nov 7, 2012 (9:46 AM)
I am in favor of action that will reduce our use of plastic bags. A 5-10 cent charge to use one would be a good start. (I
lean toward 10cents.) Making re-usable bags available for long income people would be good. Perhaps you could
start by giving out bags at the Food Bank.
46 Complete – Nov 6, 2012 (2:19 PM)
We do not want to be like Boulder! I reuse plastic bags for collecting trash when we are camping, or out walking and
picking up other peoples trash. I stow other recyclables in them until I can get it out to the recycle bin. If I did not have
plastic shopping bags I would have to buy them, because I am not likely to quit using them. I reduce, re-use,and
recycle. Many times I stop at the store when running errands and left my reuseable bags at home or in the car, or we
took a car that did not have any bags stored in it. Leave things alone we do not need to be told how to do everything.
45 Complete – Nov 6, 2012 (10:48 AM)
Global warming is happening. Our resources are dwindling. The world is changing. Our country is starting to figure
that out and change is happening. We need to follow California and Portland and Hawaii and set an example for the
rest of the country. Plastic bags are bad. They should be a fad and a thing of the past. Thank you.
44 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (9:52 PM)
Many of the cheap, reusable bags that retailers favor are produced in Chinese factories and made from nonwoven
polypropylene, a form of plastic that requires about 28 times as much energy to produce as the plastic used in
standard disposable bags and eight times as much as a paper sack. Many of the bags go unused -- remaining
stashed instead in consumers' closets or in the trunks of their cars. Earlier this year, KPIX in San Francisco polled
500 of its television viewers and found that more than half -- 58% -- said they almost never take reusable cloth
shopping bags to the grocery store. The new awl-mart bag costs 50 cents but has less recycled content than Wal-
Mart's $1 reusable bag. The company says it wanted to offer shoppers a cheaper option. Proving that recycled
content is more expensive that virgin plastics. At the Stanford Graduate School of Business, marketing professor
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Baba Shiv dedicated the first day of a weeklong seminar on green marketing to the "road blocks" facing reusable
bags. He says it can take "years and decades" for consumers to change their shopping habits, and only when there's
a personal reward. I think reward mechanisms are far more effective than adding a tax to the bags we use. Studies
show that plastic bags are less than 3% of the volume in any municipal landfills. Modern plastics had learned a
lesson taught by the infamous IMF (Impossible Mission Force) in that they simply self destruct! Today our PE bags
are made with a degradable additive that is non-toxic and decays even in land-fill conditions (anaerobic). They decay
even faster when carelessly tossed on the street and even when washed into culverts, creeks, rivers and yes…even
oceans. Sea Life: The plastic which endangers sea life are those impossible to pull apart cold drink rings that keep a
6 pack together…not thin PE bags. Inspections made by marine biologist of the contents of fish and sea mammals
stomachs reveal no dangers caused by PE bags. Those reusable totes now at your grocery store however have a
much greater potential for danger in our opinion as they are darn near indestructible. Litter in trees and other places:
There is no doubt that we have been a throw away society. But we can change and are changing. My neighbors are
changing! We have not had much help from our local or federal governments to recycle. But we know that some
people do not care about being responsible citizens and continue to litter; maybe it’s about education and awareness.
Our ace up the sleeve is the degradability of PE bags in that they decompose quickly into trace amounts of C02, H20
and silicon (sand). Paper also decomposes into C02, cellulose fiber and other trace compounds. Non-woven
reusable totes do not presently break down as a practical matter. Fort Collins should be urging its businesses to buy
degradable PE plastic bags that will degrade easily in a landfill. Not forcing the consumer to make a decision
between 2 bad choices. I would like to see merchants use green degradable plastics rather than forcing the
consumer to buy expensive re-usable bags that are not degradable, and often have a large carbon footprint.
43 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (9:26 PM)
Another option that should be considered is to give consumers a credit of a few cents on their shopping bill for every
bag that they bring back to the store to re-use. this will encourage re-use of existing plastic bags and reduce the
number of new bags needed.
42 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (9:23 PM)
I would like to see fort collins spend its time and resources in other areas that are more pressing. I do not believe that
the reduction of single use bags is urgent at this time.
41 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (2:36 PM) We NEED to reduce single-use bag consumption! They shouldn't be used at
all.
40 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (11:14 AM)
If City Council "Boulderizes" us again and charges for disposable bags I will go to Loveland to shop. The have all the
same stores and less sales tax anyway. I choose not to use reusable bags because of the bacteria they grow. I use
as few bags as possible and recycle the ones I don't reuse for messy trash. Your estimate of 500 bags per year must
be for a family of 8. That is almost 10 bags per week. We don't buy that much food.
39 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (10:15 AM)
Encouraging the substitution for plastic bags has enormous benefits. A small fee for the use of plastic bags will do
the trick. At the same time affordable reusable grocery bags need to be available. Carryout plastic bags should be
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assessed the same fee. We all can learn. Perhaps report monthly or quarterly the fees collected and thenumber of
bags reduced along with the equivalent is oil savings and climate change impacts.
38 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (9:31 AM)
I also reuse all my plastic bags for trash or animal waste as does the majority identified in the study you had done. To
have to buy bags for the same purpose doesn't really impact the amount going to the landfill and saves nothing.
When I dont need trash bags I use my reusable grocery bags, which are as ubiquitous as the plastic ones. Also, even
though I'm a Democrat, I feel this isn't really the goverment's role to outlaw such things. Let each store and consumer
decide for themselves (e.g., Vitamin Cottage which no longer uses them.)
37 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (7:26 AM)
I have lived in Fort Collins my whole life. I have watched it change a lot lately. So much that I now call it Fort Boulder.
Just because Boulder passed this you think we need to. I knew it was coming. What you are looking past is the fact
that people will be forced to buy dog pooh plastic bags and plastic bags for their trash cans. So you are not
eliminating any waste. I would also like to know why the city is spending $5,000 of our dollars to do a study on plastic
bags? This money if available should have been donated to the food bank to help the huge number of people in
larimer county that are in poverty.
36 Complete – Nov 5, 2012 (6:57 AM)
Please why are you doing this now in a bad economy? We are some of those that reuse our plastic bags for trash
can liners. We are broke because of the economy. This would force us to spend more money that we do not have.
We would have to buy bags for our trash can liners, and pay for plastic bags or buy reusible bags. Everytime that
fees and things like this are passed and you think it is a good idea it is not it effects people like us that have lost our
jobs and are barely making ends meet.
35 Complete – Nov 4, 2012 (4:31 PM)
I am in favor of some sort of ban or fee on bags. My least preferred option is to do nothing.
34 Complete – Nov 4, 2012 (10:43 AM)
I support any effort by the City of Fort Collins to limit plastic and other disposable bag use (paper bags aren't any
better from a production side). I like measures such as the City of Aspen's ban on plastic bags,
http://www.aspenpitkin.com/Whats-New-/Press-Releases/newsid378/345/ and a similar effort in San Francisco.
Vitamin Cottage has already limited the disposable bag option at its stores. You have my full endorsement in this
matter. Thank you.
33 Complete – Nov 4, 2012 (9:16 AM)
It is high time that people recognize that "convenience" is costly. At the very least the city should require that all
stores charge a fee for all bags. This should include department stores where the bags are heavy shiny paper
(usually not allowed in the recycling bins) with rope or string handles and gobs of tissue paper (the tissue should also
incur an additional charge). Vitamin Cottage does not provide any bags for customers (they will put your groceries in
a cardboard box if you don't have your own bags). They've been doing this for years and it works fine.
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32 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (12:16 PM)
My take was that the cost of changing to ban or bans might cost more than the actual change in Landfill decrease
would warrant. I do support less disposable plastic and paper use. Perhaps continued education and offering the non
woven plastic bags at various community/store/project events, etc would help educate and also result in less plastic
and paper use with less cost to "us" the city. Perhaps this could still be tracked to support our sustainability efforts.
31 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (10:43 AM)
Your ranking survey is slanted in favor of banning and fees. A user should not be forced to rank all options but rather
select the options they prefer. I submit: Do nothing, educate on recycling/reuse, investigate environmentally friendly
options for plastic bags made from corn based or biodegradable materials. The fees are simply another tax and the
governments attempt to control freedoms. NO FEES, NO BANNING!
30 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (10:37 AM)
I believe this is a great opportunity for Fort Collins to lead the way and set a positive example for the world in limiting
"disposable" bag consumption! Although I have personally been using my cloth bags for ALL purchases (not just
groceries) for many years now, including reusable bags for produce and reusable containers for bulk items, I do
recognize that for some people this will force a change of habits and could create hostility. In light of that, I believe a
partial limitation and/or charging of fees for bags should be the first step. Although evidence shows that paper bags
are in many ways at least as costly and draining on the environment in their production as the plastic bags, I feel that
the post-use implications of paper bags are not as severe a detriment to our world as the plastic. I see paper bags
being reused as trash cans in homes, for containing other papers to recycle, reused at the grocery stores, and even
for other purposes such as covering textbooks. Plastic bags seem to only end up in the landfill or blowing in the wind
and never biodegrade, unlike the paper. Therefore, I would like to see a complete ban on grocery plastic bags and a
fee charged for paper bags. I do have some concern about implementing a ban on the plastic bags used for produce
within the grocery stores as well as the "doggie bags". As much as I would like to see this use of plastic also
disappear, there are not good viable options for either of these uses available right now. I fear that a ban on the
doggie bags would create a public health issue in our parks, neighborhoods, and open spaces. Banning produce
plastic bags could also have negative implications on our public health and local farmers if it discourages people from
buying fresh and/or local produce. Ultimately, I would like to see these plastic "doggie bags" and produce bags
replaced with a biodegradable/compostable plastic bag. Until such an option is more feasible, however, perhaps
these two uses of plastic bags should be left to an educational program which discourages their use and teaches
about other options. Another note about the educational program: I also took the "poll" in which I was asked to re-
order a number of choices of action for this program, one of which was to "Create an educational campaign to
promote reusable bags" Although I ordered this option near the bottom because I believe we should take MORE than
just this action, I also believe that an educational campaign is absolutely necessary to accompany ANY course of
action we take. If properly educated, people will be more apt to comply without hesitation or complaint with the new
regulations. Ignorance breeds discontent while understanding breeds tolerance. Fort Collins is known as one of the
greatest places to live. We can be a powerful voice of change while improving that quality of life even more by taking
action against this very real, very significant problem! Let's do the right thing and take the first steps towards making
plastic bags a thing of the past and reusable bags the standard of the future! Thank you for giving us the opportunity
to voice our opinions on this issue. If I can be of any further assistance or clarify any of my above statements, please
feel free to contact me at the email below.
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29 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (9:56 AM)
I support, if not a ban on plastic, at least limiting the use of plastic in some way. A total ban would suit me most and I
would hope that the stores would make reusable bags for purchase readily available for those who may have left
their bags at home or in the car.
28 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (7:50 AM)
I think this is just WONDERFUL! I am so thankful to live in a city that considers these kinds of options to benefit both
the environment and the community. Plastic bags are so incredibly harmful yet so enmeshed in our culture. It's going
to take some great cities like ours to stand up and against them to remove it from our everyday lives. That one
person uses over 500 a year is just sickening... BAN THEM! Ban them all, including the paper, that is my opinion.
Reusable bags are and easy to get. There is simply no reason not to use them. Further, stores such as Vitamin
Cottage banned all bags years ago and are doing just fine! At Vitamin Cottage, they keep a variety of the boxes they
receive in their food shipments at the front of the store near the registers. Then, when customers forget their bags,
they can use these boxes for their groceries. What a great way to reduce and reuse! This cost the store nothing, and
in fact saves them money because they do not buy any bags at all. Perhaps the city could offer free or low cost
reusable bags to people as a way to introduce/initiate a ban like this - that way those who perhaps cannot afford
them, do not have them already, or are against the ban, are given what they need at least with no cost to them. One
last thing, there are also biodegradable plastic bags out there. They're usually made out of corn or some other
vegetable starch. I know Clothes Pony/Dandelion Toys in old town utilizes these. Perhaps this could be another
option for certain stores? May I also suggest the City consider switching it's own plastic bag use, such as dog doo-
doo bags, to biodegradable plastic instead? THANK YOU for your consideration!
27 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (6:57 AM)
I would strongly support any measures to reduce the occurance of single-use plastic bags, including an outright ban
on their use for shopping in Fort Collins. Thank you for your efforts!
26 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (6:55 AM)
I like a fee, and just start with grocery stores. Later on you could add next level usage category with extra time to
implement. My background is retail IT; it would not be that hard for grocery store to deal with fee. I have set up fees
like this for bottle deposits in multiple states at retail level. As for income effect, I would propose allocating part of fee
collection to buying reusable bags for low income residents. We were in Europe this summer, and almost every
grocery charged us around 5 cents per plastic bag used; the amount of reusable bag use seemed much higher.
25 Complete – Nov 3, 2012 (12:54 AM)
I believe that recycling both plastic and paper bags is an option as well. I recycle my paper bags to death. Even the
non-disposable bags get worn out and they need to be disposed somewhere too.
24 Complete – Nov 2, 2012 (11:10 PM)
I obtained a link via Facebook but was unable to to rate the choices on your page. I would love to see a ban on both
paper and plastic bgs, but I do not see that as a realistic approach, considering the number of plastic bgs I see being
carted out of grocery stores. I strongly support a fee on both plastic and paper bags and an educational drive to
reduce the use of these disposable bags. Judging from conversations I've had and my own occasional relapse,
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laziness is the main reason people do not carry their own bags into stores. People need to be educated as to the
horrible environmental consequences, for sure, but it would be beneficial to give tips as to how to remember to bring
your own reusable bags into the stores. I don't have any great ideas, but I carry "Chico" bags in the front of my car for
little trips to the drug store, pet food store, and smaller purchase places, grocery sized bags in the rear of the car and
hanging on a hook just as I leave the garage for larger shopping trips. It's likely too late this year, but people could be
persuaded to give reusable bags as holiday gifts or put your gifts in reusable bags, large and small, including jewelry
and smaller gifts in reusable sandwich bags. I feel very strongly that incentive and education need to be combined in
an initial effort to raise consciousness about this issue. Oh, I mean "fee" when I say incentive. At this point, we need
to be as proactive as possible in protecting our environment. I regret the job loss and do not have any ideas as to
how to offset that, but it could be addressed also if more definitive information were provided to the public. Thank you
for moving on this. I do hope something will be done!
23 Complete – Nov 2, 2012 (11:28 AM)
we need a good way to recycle these bags, NOT another "fee" which is just another thinly disguised TAX. I know that
some communities do this but it is back to the lemming thing and cliffs, it doesn't mean it is a good idea.
22 Complete – Nov 2, 2012 (10:53 AM)
I would love to see a fee charged for the use of plastic bags or, even better, an outright ban at some point when
people adapt to bringing their own bags. Plastic bags are one of the top litter items in the world.
21 Complete – Nov 1, 2012 (9:05 PM)
http://www.plasticsindustry.org/files/about/fbf/myths%2Bfacts_grocerybags.pdf
http://savetheplasticbag.com/ReadContent667.aspx Check out the above sites.
Educating people and encouraging reuse of plastic bags is a far better path to go down vs. banning or charging a fee.
Let's get honest and real with responsible government engagement and not unsubstantiated, costly bans on the
practical use of plastic bags. Please do not go down a path that will raise expenses, discourage people from
shopping in Fort Collins and actually accomplish more harm than perceived good!
20 Complete – Nov 1, 2012 (8:10 PM)
I am amazed that we are spending time on this topic when there are so many other more vital topics to address in
this city. Banning or putting a fee on either plastic or paper bags only increases the cost to many people who already
are struggling to make ends meet. The most that will come out of this effort is more people shopping outside the city
to avoid the hassle and cost of doing business in FC. Plus the health hazards of reusable bags doesn't seem to come
up in any discussion? Reports I have read indicate it is a serious concern. The most I would support is encourage
people to be responsible with disposal and/or reuse of plastic and paper bags.
19 Complete – Nov 1, 2012 (3:45 PM)
This seems like a no-brainer to me. Single use plastic bags are a wasteful use of petroleum, they pollute the
environment and they harm wildlife. There is an easy, inexpensive alternative to them - the reusable cloth bag. How
can anyone argue with the logic?
18 Complete – Nov 1, 2012 (2:04 PM)
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I would like to see plastic bags banned, and even paper bags that are handed out in department stores specifically,
as they are obsolete, we have reusable bags available, dozens in every thrift store and in every lost and found bin
across the city. Point being it is incredibly easy to find a reusable bag, there could even be some sort of bag drive if
the people really need it where the city requests those who have too many (Say 50 reusable bags) to donate them to
the city in order to distribute them to citizens opposed to the ban. Might seem like a silly idea, well, it is, but it could
be rather effective. And while paper bags do biodegrade, you still have to take into account the trees deforested,
water use, fossil fuel use, time and labor, etc. that is all unnecessary. Reusable bags are far more efficient and
friendly to our environment. Yes they still take up resources and all the rest, but last for far longer than disposable
bags. We have a trash island the size of Australia off the west coast of our country that is getting larger by the day,
as well as overflowing landfills throughout this country and other nations. Plastic bags do not degrade and often rip
after 1 - 3 uses, depending on how careful you are with them. Reusable bags can be used for years, and if they rip
there are means to reinforce them, it just makes a lot more sense. Just having a plastic/paper bag at a store for free
as an option will usually sway a customer to take the bag even if they don't need it or are planning on throwing it
away after this one time use from store to car, then car to house. It's unnecessary. This mindset of creating products
for just a one time use is absurd, and I believe is a large contributor to both our pollution/over-consumption problem
as well as our tendency to be incredibly needy. The citizens of our culture are each products of the environment they
live in, and if the environment is presenting practices that encourage neediness or unrealistically high expectations,
then the citizens will reflect that mindset. Banning of disposable bags are a small yet very necessary step to start
proceeding into a future where we can live in harmony with the planet that has been doing its best to serve us for
millions of years. Thank you for this opportunity to provide feedback to the city, I hope to see this law come into
effect, just as I've seen it take hold in many other parts of this country over the past few years.
17 Complete – Oct 31, 2012 (7:57 PM)
Let's adpot the most effective solution for the envirnment. Vitamin Cottege here in town eliminated bags long ago,
gave away totes and if people forget, provide cartons in which they received the items which they sell.
16 Complete – Oct 29, 2012 (10:23 AM)
PLASTIC SHOULD BE BANNED AND PAPER SHOULD HAVE A CHARGE FOR USE.
15 Complete – Oct 29, 2012 (9:38 AM)
I like disposable plastic bags - I reuse them to collect dog and dispose of dog poop. I also use them as waste basket
liners. I don't believe that they contribute to any long term pollution concerns in any significant manner - especially
given the containment standards (liners etc) for modern landfills. Finally, plastic bags are inexpensive because they
use very little energy and material to manufacture. Plastic grocery bags represent only one small subset of all plastic
bags. There are also sandwich bags, yard waste bags, food storage bags, contractor barrel liners, kitchen garbage
bags etc. If the focus is on plastic grocery bags only then it would seem like a ban is simply a politically correct feel
good measure.
14 Complete – Oct 29, 2012 (7:31 AM)
The City should ban the use of both plastic and paper bags. Charging a fee for either type of bag ignores the
underlying environmental issues and favors the people who think they can pay their way out of environmental
responsibility. Some stores in FC offer cardboard merchandise boxes for customer use. This will require a behavioral
change, which some people will grumble about, but they'll adjust, just as people have changed behavior about
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littering and recycling. Don't be tempted to confuse this issue with a personal rights issue. It's a personal
responsibility issue.
13 Complete – Oct 28, 2012 (6:20 AM)
I am in favor of any plan that goes beyond just "education." People have been enducated on this issue for years. It
took me a while to get a system going for always having a reusable bag, and it will take others a while too, but not
without the financial motive (i.e. fee) to stop using disposable.
12 Complete – Oct 25, 2012 (11:52 AM)
Banning both plastic and paper bags seems like a painless and inexpensive way to help the environment. Bringing
your own bags is an easy thing to do. It just requires establishing a new habit. I realize that some people will be upset
about the perceived attempt to regulate personal choice, or the fear that some jobs might be in jeopardy, but if we
can’t ever change, even for an overall better outcome, because someone somewhere might be effected negatively,
then we never progress.
11 Complete – Oct 24, 2012 (7:53 PM)
I urge you to take extreme action to greately reduce or stop the use of single-use bags. This is a great idea and is
long overdue.
10 Complete – Oct 24, 2012 (12:49 PM)
I use my plastic bags for a variety of purposes. I would hate, absolutely hate to have the City of Fort Collins interfere
in one more area that will only eventually cost me more tax dollars to pay for a new recycling system and the staffing
to go with it. Leave our plastic bags alone, please! And really, let's use the private sector for other recycling efforts, it
is absolutely unneccessary for the City to take over something the private sector can handle. It just puts others out of
work and increases our size of government under the umbrella of green intiatives. It also sounds like justifying a
special interest group inside the City and their pet projects. How about we ask the people what they want...not the
City sustainability staff. Thanks for asking for our feedback.
9 Complete – Oct 23, 2012 (7:28 PM)
I am on a personal mission to ban plastic bags! It is very do-able! In the best way possible. Fort collins can do it I
know we can all step up. I feel like those that complain/oppose are falling into lazy habits that can be changed. I want
everyone to wake up to the useless items they use and use and use. Plastic bags are #1! I'm SO glad I found this
website. I am very very passionate about this. Just because I know 100% it can be accomplished and the positive
effects would outweigh any negatives it seems. I do not support using plastic bags and I definitely don't think they
need to be a "staple". I will most likely be contacting you directly just to see where fort collins stands in this process. I
am just very excited to be able to give my feedback. Thank you for reading what I have to say!
8 Complete – Oct 22, 2012 (2:38 PM)
An outright ban seems like a better choice than collecting a bag fee. This option gets at the heart of saving energy,
resources, and reducing negative impacts to the environment. We could certainly learn some lessons from other
municipalities that have implemented such bans.
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7 Complete – Oct 21, 2012 (10:44 PM)
I recommend banning or charging extra when people forget to bring along their re-usable bags for groceries. I keep a
box of reusable bags in my car for shopping purposes. If I had to pay 25 cents per plastic or paper bag, you bet I
would never forget.
6 Complete – Oct 20, 2012 (2:40 PM)
I weighted 10 bags ~ 60 gm=2 oz -> about 640 bags per gallon of gas. I like using the reusable bags because they
carry more, but I tend to leave them in the car.
5 Complete – Oct 20, 2012 (2:34 PM)
first bag free Charge for a second and each additional bag if a person is shopping for a few items he may forget to
bring a bag.
4 Complete – Oct 16, 2012 (12:42 PM)
Let's work together to encourage the use of reusable bags. I've noticed the farmer's market vendors (Saturdays) are
a big user of bags for their customers. They rarely even ask if a customer has reusable bags. What if there was a
booth at the market with reusable bags available for people to use or add it to the existing booths (that sell market
bucks?)
3 Complete – Oct 13, 2012 (10:25 AM)
There is just no good reason to not stop using plastic bags, other than short term convenience. There are huge long
term consequences for their use, that frankly just aren't worth the benefit. When I was in Ireland a few years ago, I
was charged 25 cents per bag. It was a huge wake up call on how easy it would be to curb their use and it in no way
ruined my experience abroad. Fort Collins please consider being a leader on this issue. You like to think you are
progressive, but it seems like you are always years behind truly progressive cities like Madison and Portland. If it
creates a bit of inconvenience for people while they adjust, they will get over it eventually. Does the city really fear a
mass exodus to Loveland, because they still allow plastic bags? There are just no good arguments for their use over
re-usable bags.
2 Complete – Oct 13, 2012 (8:08 AM)
solve multiple problems don't create more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwI2d4bK5Ug
1 Complete – Oct 13, 2012 (5:28 AM)
Hi Susie - Nice webpage! Several comments: 1. I like the idea of charging a fee on both plastic and paper bags best,
followed by a ban on plastic bags and a fee on paper bags. 2. "Enact" is spelled incorrectly a couple of times on the
web page. 3. On this feedback page, you might want to ask people to rank the various choices you provide on the
main page - you might get more usable info back that way.
1
Director
Division
Denver Department of Environmental Health
200 W. 14th, Suite 310
Denver, CO 80204
720-865-5458
City Council Regular Meeting
Susie Gordon, Sr. Environmental Planner
March 5, 2013
First Reading:
An Ordinance to Apply a Fee on
Disposable Grocery Shopping Bags
ATTACHMENT 4
2
At the Nov. 27, 2012 Work Session, staff was asked
to continue examining the City’s ability to apply a
fee on both plastic and paper shopping bags at
grocery stores.
Staff proposes a 10-cent/bag fee be charged.
3
US communities that have enacted a fee on plastic
and paper bags include:
• Washington DC (5 cents)
• Boulder, CO (10 cents)
• San Francisco (10 cents)
• LA County (10 cents)
• Montgomery County, MD (5 cents)
Grocery stores generate 60% of disposable bags
Estimated 22 million used each year in Fort Collins
Single-Use Disposable Bags
4
• Motivate shoppers to use fewer plastic or paper
bags and bring a durable carryout bag to stores
for their purchases
• Increase the community’s ability to meet goals
to divert more trash from landfills and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduce stray litter and pollution in the
community, and globally, including plastic
bags in trees and waterways
Adopting a fee on bags is expected to:
5
Charges a 10-cent fee on both plastic bags and
paper sacks used in the community’s grocery (food)
stores.
Grocery stores are defined as retail establishments
that operate year-round and sell a full line of food
stuffs. It does not include:
• temporary food vendors
• gas station/convenience stores for whom food
sales represents less than 2% of gross profit
Ordinance Details
6
City revenues used for:
• education on impacts of disposable bags to
environment
• provide reusable bags to citizens
• litter clean-up
• more bag recycling opportunities
• program administration costs
Splits bag-fee revenue between the City (60%) and
the grocery stores (40%).
Ordinance Details (continued)
7
Grocery store revenues used for:
• offset new administrative costs
• provide educational information and signage
about the disposable bag fee to customers
• train staff in the implementation, collection, and
administration of the fee
Ordinance Details (continued)
8
TEXT HERE
Budget Year 2013
(Oct-Dec)
2014 2015 2016
# disposable
bags affected
by fee
2.7 M 9.8 M 5.0 M 2.5 M
Fees remitted
to City (60%) $ 165 K $ 586 K $ 298 K $152 K
Fees remitted
to grocery
stores (40%)
$110 K $ 391 K $199 K $101 K
TOTAL $274,286 $976,979 $497,130 $252,961
Revenue Projections from Fee
9
• Starts October 1, 2013
• New .25% FTE in Sales Tax Department to provide
oversight for grocery stores to collect the 10-
cent/bag fee and remit 60% to City
• New .5 FTE in Environmental Services to carry
out educational program
• Anticipated to reduce use of disposable bags by
at least 50% initially, and about 80% by 2016
Implementation
10
• Website fcgov.com/plasticbags
• Newsletter and newspaper articles
• Presentations to AQAB and NRAB
• Meetings with stakeholder groups
• Public open house November 8
Letters sent to Grocery Stores’ regulatory and
administration offices in November, January, and
February
Public Outreach & Involvement, Fall 2012
11
12
Questions?
ORDINANCE NO. 046, 2013
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 12 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY
OF FORT COLLINS TO ESTABLISH A DISPOSABLE BAG FEE
WHEREAS, the City, through its policies, programs, and laws, supports efforts to reduce the
amount of waste deposited into the landfill and to pursue waste minimization as a long term goal by
emphasizing waste prevention efforts; and
WHEREAS, the use of single-use disposable bags has severe impacts on the environment
on a local and global scale, including greenhouse gas emissions, litter, harm to wildlife, atmospheric
acidification, water consumption and solid waste generation; and
WHEREAS, despite recycling and voluntary solutions to control pollution from disposable
carryout bags, many disposable single-use bags ultimately are disposed of in landfills, litter the
environment, block storm drains and endanger wildlife; and
WHEREAS, Fort Collins consumers use approximately twenty-two (22) million disposable
bags from food stores each year; and
WHEREAS, the City’s taxpayers bear the costs associated with the effects of disposable bags
on the solid waste stream, drainage, litter and wildlife; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that a disposable bag fee is necessary to
address the environmental problems associated with disposable bags and to relieve City taxpayers
of the costs incurred by the City in connection with the use of disposable bags; and
WHEREAS, the City Council intends that the fee imposed by this ordinance will help offset
the costs associated with the use of disposable bags in the City and help fund the mitigation,
educational, replacement, and administrative efforts of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the foregoing recitals are incorporated herein as findings of the
City Council.
Section 2. That Chapter 12, Article VII of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended by the addition of a new Division 3 which shall read in its entirety as follows:
ARTICLE VII
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
Division 3
Sec. 12-133. Definitions.
The following terms used in this Chapter shall have the meanings ascribed to them
below unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Disposable Bag shall mean a bag that is not a reusable bag. Disposable Bag shall not
include:
(1) bags used by consumers inside stores to:
a. package bulk items, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy or
small hardware items;
b. contain or wrap frozen foods, meat, or fish;
c. contain or wrap flowers, potted plants, or other items where
dampness may be a problem; or
d. contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods.
(2) bags used to protect a purchased item from damaging or contaminating other
purchased items when placed in a reusable bag;
(3) bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs; or
(4) newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold
in packages containing multiple bags for uses such as food storage, garbage, pet
waste, or yard waste bags.
Food store shall mean a retail establishment or business located within City limits
in a permanent building, operating year round, that is a full-line, self-service market
and which sells a line of staple foodstuffs, meats, produce or dairy products or other
perishable items. Food store shall not include:
(1) temporary vending establishments for fruits, vegetables, packaged meats and
dairy;
(2) vendors at farmers' markets or other temporary events;
(3) businesses at which foodstuffs are an incidental part of the business; or
For the purposes of subsection (3) above, food sales will be considered to be
“incidental” if such sales comprise no more than two (2) percent of the business’s
gross sales in the City as measured by the dollar value of food sales as a percentage
of the dollar value of total sales at any single location.
Reusable Bag shall mean a bag that:
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(1) is designed and manufactured to withstand repeated uses over a period of
time;
(2) is made from a material that can be cleaned and disinfected regularly;
(3) is at least two and one-quarter (2.25) mils thick if made from plastic;
(4) has a minimum lifetime of seventy (75) uses; and
(5) has the capability of carrying a minimum of eighteen (18) pounds.
Disposable bag fee or fee shall mean a City fee imposed and required to be paid by
each consumer making a purchase from a food store for each disposable bag used
during the purchase, the proceeds of which are to be used for the purposes specified
in Section 12-135(7).
Sec. 12-134. Disposable bag fee requirements.
(1) For each disposable bag provided to a customer, all food stores shall collect
from customers, and customers shall pay, at the time of purchase, a disposable bag
Fee of ten cents ($0.10.)
(2) All food stores shall record the number of disposable bags provided and the
total amount of disposable bag fees charged on the customer transaction receipt.
(3) No food store shall refund to a customer any part of the disposable bag fee,
nor shall any food store advertise or state to customers that any part of the disposable
bag fee will be refunded to the customer.
(4) No food store shall exempt any customer from any part of the disposable bag
fee for any reason except as stated in Section 12-139.
Sec. 12-135. Retention, remittance, and transfer of the disposable bag fee.
(1) A food store may retain forty (40) percent of each disposable bag fee
collected, which is the “retained percent.”
(2) The retained percent may only be used by the food store to:
a. provide educational information about the disposable bag fee to
customers;
b. provide the signage required by Section 12-136;
c. train staff in the implementation and administration of the fee;
d. improve or alter infrastructure to allow for the implementation, collection,
administration of the fee;
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e. collect, account for and remit the fee to the City;
f. develop and display informational signage to inform
consumers about the fee;
g. encourage the use of reusable bags or promote recycling of plastic
bags; and
h. improve infrastructure to increase plastic bag recycling.
(3) The amount of the disposable bag fee collected by a food store in excess of
the retained percent shall be paid to the City and shall be used only as set forth in
subsection (7) of this Section to mitigate the effects of disposable bags in the City.
(4) A food store shall pay and the City shall collect all disposable bag fees. The
City shall provide the necessary forms for food stores to file with the City, to
demonstrate compliance with the provisions of this Article.
(5) If payment of any amount to the City is not received on or before the
applicable due date, penalty and interest charges shall be added to the amount due as
described in Section 12-139.
(6) The disposable bag fee shall be administered by the City Manager. The City
Manager is authorized to adopt administrative rules to implement this Division, including,
but not limited to, prescribing forms and providing methods of payment and collection.
(7) Revenues received by the City from the disposable bag fee shall be used only
for expenditures that are intended to mitigate the effects of disposable bags,
including, but not limited to, the following:
a. administrative costs associated with developing and implementing the
disposable bag fee.
b. activities of the City to:
1. provide reusable carryout bags to residents and visitors;
2. educate residents, businesses, and visitors about the impact of
disposable bags on the City’s environmental health, the
importance of reducing the number of single-use carryout
bags entering the waste stream, and the expenses associated
with mitigating the effects of single-use bags on the City’s
drainage system, transportation system, wildlife and
environment;
3. fund programs and infrastructure that allow the Fort Collins
community to reduce waste associated with disposable bags;
4. purchase and install equipment designed to minimize bag
pollution, including, but not limited to, recycling containers
and waste receptacles associated with disposable bags;
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5. fund community cleanup events and other activities that
reduce trash associated with disposable bags;
6. mitigate the effects of disposable bags on the City’s drainage
system, transportation system, wildlife and environment;
7. maintain a public website that educates residents on the
progress of waste reduction efforts associated with disposable
bags; and
8. fund the administration of the disposable bag fee program.
c. No disposable bag fees collected in accordance with this Article shall
be used for general government purposes.
Sec. 12-136. Required signage for food stores.
Every food store subject to the collection of the disposable bag fee shall display a
sign in a location outside or inside of the business, viewable by customers, alerting
customers to the disposable bag fee.
Sec. 12-137. Exemptions.
A food store may provide a disposable bag to a customer at no charge if the customer
provides evidence that he or she is a participant in a federal or state Food Assistance
Program.
Sec. 12-138. Audits.
(a) Each food store shall maintain accurate and complete records of the
disposable bag fees collected, the number of disposable bags provided to customers,
the form and recipients of any notice required pursuant to this Article, and any
underlying records, including any books, accounts, invoices, or other records
necessary to verify the accuracy and completeness of such records. It shall be the duty
of each food store to keep and preserve all such documents and records, including
any electronic information, for a period of three years from the end of the calendar
year of such records.
(b) If requested, each food store shall make its records available for audit by the
City during regular business hours for the City to verify compliance with the
provisions of this Article. All such information shall be treated as confidential
commercial documents.
Sec. 12-139. Failure to comply with disposable bag fee requirements.
(a) If any food store fails, neglects, or refuses to collect the disposable bag fee,
or underpays the disposable bag fee, the City shall make an estimate of the fees due,
based on available information, and shall add thereto penalties, interest, and any
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additions to the fees. The City shall serve upon the delinquent food store personally,
by electronic mail or by first class mail directed to the last address of the food store
on file with the City, written notice of such estimated fees, penalties, and interest,
constituting a Notice of Final Determination, Assessment, and Demand for Payment,
(also referred to as “Notice of Final Determination”) due and payable within twenty
(20) calendar days after the date of the notice. The food store may request a hearing
on the assessment as provided in Chapter 2, Article VI of the City Code.
(b) If payment of any amount of the disposable bag fee to the City is not received
on or before the applicable due date, penalty and interest charges shall be added to
the amount due in the amount of:
(1) a penalty of ten (10) percent of total due;
(2) interest charge of one (1) percent of the total penalty per month.
Sec. 12-140. Violations and penalties.
Any food store found guilty of violating any provision of this Article, whether by
acting in a manner declared to be unlawful or by failing to act as required, commits
a civil infraction and is subject to the penalty provisions of subsection 1-15(f).
Section 3. The provisions of this Ordinance relating to the collection of the Disposable
Bag Fee and required store signage shall become effective October 1, 2013. All other provisions
shall be effective thirty (30) days from the date of passage. The City Manager shall develop and
implement the administrative and financial processes for the collection of the fee between the
effective date of this Ordinance and October 1, 2013.
Section 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for
any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.
Section 5. This Ordinance is necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare
of the residents of the City, and covers matters of local concern.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 5th day of
March, A.D. 2013, and to be presented for final passage on the 19th day of March, A.D. 2013.
_________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
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_____________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 19th day of March, A.D. 2013.
_________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________
City Clerk
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