On July 12, the city of Tacoma passed an ordinance banning plastic bags which will go into effect in one year. This means retailers within the city will no longer have thin, plastic bags available. Reusable and brown paper bags will be available for purchase in place of the plastic bags. The Bag Busters organization is trying to follow in Tacoma’s footsteps and get Covington to ban plastic bags.
Americans use about 102 billion plastic bags every year. Plastic bags are not biodegradable and won’t decompose for thousands of years. In extreme heat the bags can harden and break into pieces, which then are eaten by animals and get into the ecosystem. Plastic bags are made to ultimately be garbage, Kim Fisher said, the Covington representative of Bag Busters.
Bag Busters was started in October of 2015 when a group of people decided they wanted to try and ban plastic bags in Kent. Fisher is the only person from Covington that was part of the Bag Busters so she wanted to try and ban the bag in Covington as well.
Fisher has spoken to the City Council a few times about passing an ordinance. Right now, her goal is to spread the word about the dangers of plastic bags so people are informed.
One thing Fisher has noticed is that many people tend to shy away from signing petitions. But, if they are well informed about what petition they are signing, they may be more inclined to sign a petition, she said.
If people are informed, and an ordinance is passed or a measure is to be voted on, people won’t be surprised and will want to vote on it.
The Bag Busters go to fairs and other big events to spread the word of what they are trying to do. They were at Covington Days with a booth giving information about how harmful plastic bags are and they taught kids how to make a reusable bag from a T-shirt.
Plastic bags are such a trivial and mindless thing that people don’t really think about, Fisher said. But she also doesn’t think people wake up and think, “I don’t care about the environment” and don’t care that their plastic bags are harming the environment. They just don’t give a second thought to plastic bags, she said.
By informing people, maybe they will give a second thought about plastic bags, she said.
“I may not be able to fix the plastic pollution problem, but getting the city to ban plastic bags is a step toward that,” Fisher said.
People are busy and sometimes don’t have the time to think about recycling or help out in a big way, but getting rid of plastic bags wouldn’t cost a person any time or money, Fisher said.
If Covington bans plastic bags, it will join 14 other cities around Washington including Seattle, Bellingham and now Tacoma who have banned the plastic bag.
Fisher and the Bag Buster team will continue to fight for plastic bags to be banned in Covington and Kent by informing the public in any way that they can. For ways to help, visit www.bagbusters.org or visit their Facebook page, Bag Buster of Kent and Covington.
