Deep sigh... Portland missed out on another first - Again.

San Fransisco was the first to ban them.

Now NYC is one of the first to require stores to recycle them.

Back in April we reported that the San Francisco City Council voted to ban petroleum-based plastic bags from large supermarkets.  After Mayor Newsom signed the ban, San Francisco became the first American City with such a ban.  Plastic bags were replaced with paper and corn-based plastic bags that can be recycled through San Francisco's city-wide curbside compost program.

I'd like to take a moment to remind you that similar bans already exist in South Africa, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. 

The New York Times reports that the NYC Council overwhelmingly passed a sweeping measure today that would require stores to collect, transport and recycle the plastic bags they issue to customers. This puts New York City at the forefront of a growing movement to curb plastic bag use.

Read the article here.

I appreciate that many local stores have taken the first steps to make plastic bags obsolete. Promotions for reusable bags abound. But this is not enough. Plastic bags can still be waving in trees or sailing in the air on a windy day (a performance I see frequently through my office window).

Our original post asked if the Portland City Council will one day take on this issue, after all it doesn't seem unreasonable with our current city council.

The waters have been tested. The public will is there. We just need our leaders to act.