Brownsville Bag Ban Eliminates 350,000 Plastic Bags Per Day!

It's amazing that with results like this, the Texas Legislature is attempting to ban plastic bag bans in Texas.

From May 7, 2011 New York Times.....

Mixed Reviews for Brownsville Ban on Plastic Bags

Ms. Orozco’s collection of tote bags stems from a recent ordinance in Brownsville, one of Texas’ poorest big cities: a ban on plastic checkout bags in virtually all businesses.The policy, which took effect in January, has eliminated more than 350,000 bags per day, according to Mayor Pat Ahumada, who said in an e-mail that it has “transformed our city from littered and dirty to a much cleaner city.

Bagless in Brownsville

WOW! Texas leaves California in the dust...along with all of the discarded plastic shipping bags accumulating and swirling around there in that dust heap of a state!

Brownsville, TX has banned single-use plastic shopping bags...AND...will charge shoppers a one dollar fee if they forget to bring bags and have to use plastic. Yo no comprendo how a shopper can be charged for being issued a plastic bag if there is a bag ban in effect, but they've got it all figured out there in B-ville and the whole shebang goes into effect in January 2011. OOOWweeeee-dawggies!

See the news video and/or read the story here - and note that they refer to Brownsville as the "first city in the [Rio Grande] valley to ban plastic bags" - which, to my hopeful mind translates to, "and the rest will soon follow!".

Imagine that, progressive, sad, old California digging out from under the blizzard of plastics industry lobby money, wondering what just happened to AB 1998, while Texas is KICKING A** and TAKING INITIALS (they don't have time for names, duuude - they're busy saving the planet!!)!!

As the saying goes, DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!

Brownsville, TX Bans The Bag!

Brownsville, Texas has become the first city in the state of Texas to successfully pass a plastic bag ban ordinance. I will be the first to admit that I was blown away when I heard that they had actually pulled this off. It took them two years of hard work to do so and I would like to congratulate the City for their efforts!

The ordinance (below) sets up a one year voluntary compliance with a mandatory compliance to go into effect in 2011. It allows for the use of reusable cloth bags, approved biodegradable plastic bags and recyclable paper bags to be used in the place of the traditional plastic bags that we have become accustomed to. It also sets up an advisory committee to oversee the implementation and enforcement of the new ordinance.

After talking with local Lower Laguna Madre area officials in the City of South Padre Island and Port Isabel, it seems that they are very interested in moving forward on a similar law in order to protect our Laguna Madre, Gulf of Mexico and their beaches from the dangers and negative effects of what has been popularly called Texas' new tumbleweeds.