If these bags were actually in a landfill, the Dallas bag ordinance might actually fall under the state’s Solid Waste Disposal Act. But this is clearly an environmental ordinance.
Today, the Dallas City Council has a chance not only to improve our city’s environment and the environment of every place downwind of us – it has a chance to show that Dallas will take courageous stands to lead this region.
We know that the 5-cent fee Dallas placed on plastic bags will not survive a legal challenge. We also know that an outright ban just might.
No one disputes that plastic grocery bags are a convenience. And, if you are a shopper, their cost is essentially invisible. Until recently, we paid nothing in Dallas to take as many bags as we liked. Shopping for the month’s groceries? Take 30 bags. Shopping for a Snicker bar? Take a bag. The bags are prolific precisely because they are free. The cost to retailers is borne in the name of the convenience to the consumer.
