Eugene council favors plastic bag ban


In a unanimous vote, Eugene councilors vote to draft ordinance banning plastic bags at all city retailers.

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In a unanimous vote, Eugene councilors vote to draft ordinance banning plastic bags at all city retailers.

A plastic bag ban proposal is to come back to councilors before they take their summer break in late July.

City Councilor Alan Zelenka, who presented the proposal, said many of the estimated 67 million plastic bags used in Eugene annually end up as litter and in the ocean, where they pollute the sea and kill marine life.

“This is a low-burden regulation and the right thing to do,” he said.

Other councilors agreed, though Councilor George Brown, owner of The Kiva, a downtown grocery store, objected to Zelenka’s proposed ordinance because it would have required grocers to charge customers at least a nickel for each paper grocery bag.

Read more at the Register-Guard.