Logan might say goodbye to plastic bags
Plastic bags might be banned in Logan soon if Logan City Council member Herm Olsen’s ordinance is passed. The ordinance would effectively ban plastic bags in Logan and he hoped the rest of Cache County will follow.
“Logan is only half of the equation,” Olsen said. “With city council, I only have involvement with Logan City, so other jurisdictions will have to decide how they want to deal with it. Single use plastic bags create litter, trash, visual pollution problem throughout the whole county, so I hope Logan can set an example to begin the process of ridding ourselves of a troublesome source of pollution.”
The proposed ordinance would ban single use plastic bags, which Olsen believed will encourage the use of more reusable bags. Olsen said the ordinance would allow paper bags as an option for people that don’t have reusable ones, though the goal would be to diminish even the use of paper bags.
“Paper bags have their own environmental impact from the harvesting of trees and manufacturing,” Olsen said. “The good news with paper is that at least it decomposes and trees continue to grow so they are a renewable source. But ultimately the most environmentally friendly option is just to reuse cloth and plastic bags again and again.”
The ordinance is scheduled for workshopping in the next Logan city council meeting on Dec. 4. Olsen said if all goes well, council will hold a public hearing in the following meeting on Dec. 18.
Park City and Moab have already implemented similar ordinances. Olsen said he doesn’t expect the public to hop on board immediately.
“Nobody very much likes change and it will come probably with a bit of frustration and maybe a bit of irritation, but in the long run it’s a function of education,” Olsen said. “When people realize what this will do for the environment and the pollution in our community, they will get on board and embrace it and their children will be grateful they took that step now.”
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