Green Options

Well, it looks like the Plastic Bag Monsters weren’t able to “scare” up enough votes in favor of the 20-cent grocery bag fee in Seattle.  Voters rejected the fee for every paper or plastic bag they would get from supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores.  With about half the ballots counted in the all-mail vote, it was failing 58 percent to 42 percent in Tuesday’s primary.  What will city leaders do next?

The City of Seattle, heralded in environmental circles for its planned phase-out of styrofoam containers in restaurants and proposed fees on disposable shopping bags, will let the voters decided if the bag fees should go forward. Citizens and paid workers gathered well over the 14,000+ signatures needed to get the ban on the next eligible city election, which will not take place until the August 2009 primaries.  The fee levy will be held in abeyance until the voters decide.