PITTSBURGH — It’s a simple item that you likely don’t think about until you hit the checkout line.
“You use it for a couple minutes and then it ends up in our landfills,” said Councilwoman Erika Strassburger.
Strassburger is talking about plastic bags, and she’s asking Pittsburgh City Council to vote to ban them at all grocery stores with her new bill.
It’s an idea that is supported by residents and businesses like grocery store chain Giant Eagle.
“While at the same time placing a fee on paper bags, which will be required to be recycled and cost a fee of no less than 15 cents,” Strassburger said.
“Giant Eagle shares a vision for a Pittsburgh free of single-use plastic bags and we look forward to helping lead our community on this journey in the coming months,” said Dan Donovan, who’s the senior director of corporate communications for Giant Eagle.
But other shoppers told Channel 11 News they aren’t quite on board.
“I don’t see nothing wrong with them. They eliminate the plastic bags, they eliminate jobs,” Bob said.
Strassburger said there are some concerns to still sort out, like if some residents may not be able to afford the fee, she doesn’t’ want that cost to fall onto business owners, either.
“So, there are a couple of equity issues and it’s complicated, so we want to get to the root of that. The answer might be provide a reusable bag or two to every resident in the city of Pittsburgh so they have them and can use them,” Strassburger said.
As for the next steps, City Council likely won’t vote on the plastic bag ban for several more weeks.
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