Plastic bag ban loses support

After six months of going without plastic bags, support for a plastic bag ban is on the decline.

A recent survey found that a majority of Thurston County resident were opposed to the plastic bag ban, and the percentage was even higher in Lacey.

As a requirement of its grant from the Department of Ecology, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee was required to do a follow-up survey to gauge the success of the effort.

The survey found that no one likes the plastic bag ban.   The customers don’t like it, the clerks don’t like it, the stores don’t like it.   Some 54 percent of county residents who responded to the survey said didn’t like the plastic bag ban.   In Lacey, the percentage was 57 percent.

Despite the dislike of the ban, local politicians are hesitant to lift the ban.   Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder has said that “he doesn’t want to reopen that can of worms.”

When the ban was put into effect it was supported by only a small vocal minority.   Efforts to place the ban on the ballot failed to garner political support.

It would seem that this new survey should lead local officials, particularly in Lacey, to reconsider, and place the measure on this fall’s ballot.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to use my own bags – – when I remember them.