Lake Oswego Plastic Bag Ban Moves Closer, City Wants Your Input

LAKE OSWEGO, OR – The city is betting big that its "Bag to the Future" campaign is paying off. The city council last week told staff to write an ordinance that would ban single-use carryout plastic bags at all Lake Oswego retailers.

They are also considering imposing a fee on paper bags to discourage their use.

The overall goal is to make the city more environmentally friendly.

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The proposal would ban single use carryout bags such as the ones you get at the supermarket checkout.

It does not include:

• Bulk food, meat, or produce bags
• Pharmacy prescription bags
• Dry cleaning bags
• Bags used to carry out liquid takeout items
• Product bags (ziplocs, poop bags, etc)

As to why they're trying to discourage the use of paper bags as well, the city says that they " do not want to push consumers from one type of single use bag (plastic) to another (paper).

The city points out while paper is recyclable, the market for recycle paper has dried up since China ended their decades-old practice of accepting recyclables from the United States.

If the city passes an ordinance, retailers with more than 10,000 feet will have six months. Smaller retailers will have one year.

The city council will likely consider a proposal at their meeting on Dec, 4.

They have set up a page on their website detailing the plans so far and giving residents a way to comment.

Image via the City of Lake Oswego.