At the urging of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, the Traverse City commission last month passed a resolution encouraging retailers to eliminate the use of plastic bags, the flimsy white numbers that are cheap as dirt and can carry heavy loads but are, in every other way, a pain.
While inexpensive and practical, the bags are a pox. They're made with petroleum products, driving up the demand for oil. They're difficult to recycle, one thing Grand Traverse county -- with the highest landfill rates in the state and a faltering recycling program -- doesn't need. They can tangle birds and other critters and they're so light they can end up anywhere the wind blows -- on the beach, in the water or in the woods. And they take forever to decompose.
A ban, then, is a smart idea, particularly for a tourist-dependent area that relies so much on its natural beauty.
But selling an outright ban to shop owners already pinching pennies is going to take more than an appeal to fighting litter.
Thankfully, a possible answer is already here. This summer, the Downtown Traverse City Association began offering merchants reusable totes like the ones offered by national chain stores and locals like Tom's Food Markets and Glen's Markets.
The totes, which cost $1 each, are flying off the shelves. An initial order of 2,000 bags was followed by an order for another 4,000, Downtown Development Authority marketing director Colleen Paveglio said. One store has already gone through four 100-bag boxes.
That's a fine start that could lead to much, much more. With financial, logistical and marketing support from the DTCA or the DDA or both, the program could become a cheap and ubiquitous advertising vehicle. The bags, which now feature a DTCA logo, could be offered with a more general Traverse City or Grand Traverse Bay image. Individual stores could buy bags with their own name or logo on one side, the DTCA on the other.
Per-bag costs could be underwritten by the DDA or the city to some extent, but the bang for the buck for both merchants and the downtown as a whole could be significant.
With help from home-grown artistic talent, the DDA or city -- with an assist from the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the National Cherry Festival, the Traverse City Film Festival and even surrounding towns -- could create seasonal or specialized totes that would be must-have tourist items. The possibilities seem numerous.
Without a reasonable, affordable alternative, such as a full-fledged tote program, an outright ban on plastic bags has appeal but isn't fair or practical. Making the bag part of the Traverse City experience, however, could go a long way toward selling the idea.
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