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PARK CITY — Park City residents may no longer have to answer the question "paper or plastic?" because of a movement to ban plastic grocery store bags.
Recycling is a way of life for Park City resident Debbie Scoggan
“They collect our recycling once every two weeks in our neighborhood and we need to get rid of our recycling probably once every six days,” Scoggan said.
She also sees it as a way to leave a legacy for her kids.
“They know better than to take some plastic and throw it in the garbage,” Scoggan said. “They know I’m coming after them and they have to take it to the recycling bin.”
That's a habit Recycle Utah executive director Insa Riepsen wants everyone to develop. She presented a petition to Park City leaders asking them to ban plastic bags.
Eventually, she wants all Utahns to choose paper or reusable bags over plastic.
“Because this stuff is going to be with us for not just one lifetime — it's forever,” Riepsen said. “We don't even know. Thousands of years is on the low end.”
Recycling plastic is a very complex process. Riepsen said there are seven types of plastics. None of them are bio-degradable. And only some of them are actually recyclable.
“You cannot make a new water bottle out of an old water bottle,” Riepsen said. “You need new oil to be able to do that.”
Not everyone supports the idea.
"Using paper and reusable bags would have a greater impact on the environment because they use more resources to manufacture and more fuel to transport," said Kate Bradshaw, who represents the food and retail industries.
Reaction from Park City shoppers was mixed.
“I don't really care if they get rid of the plastic bags as long as they keep the paper bags and then people who want to carry the cloth bags can do so,” shopper Julie wilder said.
A growing number of states ban plastic bags, including California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington State, and North Carolina.
And several countries have banned them for years.
