Madison eyes ban on bags, bottles
MADISON – The capital city is discussing whether to ban bottled water and plastic grocery bags.
Madison’s Commission on the Environment is expected to begin discussing the bans after members voted unanimously at the end of last year to put them on upcoming agendas.
"Each year toward the end of the calendar year, we sit down and talk about what people are interested in," commission chairman Jon Standridge said. "We ask if something is an environmental problem and if it is worth taking up. And if it is worth taking up, is there something we can do?"
Several U.S cities already prohibit retail stores from providing plastic shopping bags, and many in Europe charge extra for the bags, Standridge said. San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Mich., and a few other cities don’t allow bottled water to be sold at public events.
Plastic bags and bottles can be recycled, but they don’t break down if they end up in landfills. Another problem is the energy and resources used to make the plastic in the first place, Standridge said.
The International Bottled Water Association is fighting proposed bans in a number of cities, said Peter Birschbach, plant manager for Premium Waters in Chippewa Falls.
Standridge said it would probably be at least a year before the commission made any recommendations on the issue.
Sep 9, 2008 at 11:35 p.m.
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Imagine that! Mikki is complaining again!!
Jan 18, 2008 at 3:21 a.m.
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Like nc said, it doesnt state that its only at public events that Madison wants to ban these. Knowing Madison, they will probably try to ban it everywhere within the city limits. If the city council there could figure a way to do it, they'd ban people from breathing because it creates carbon dioxide.
Jan 18, 2008 at 12:31 a.m.
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Maybe Wisconsin needs to do what Iowa does and pays the consumer money by bringing in their plastic soda bottles. We already do that with cans, but don't with bottles and if we did, maybe more people would recycle. .10 cents per bottle adds up after a while.
Jan 17, 2008 at 5:07 p.m.
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Umm try buying a water filter for your house or faucet people. This is a great idea.
Jan 17, 2008 at 4:44 p.m.
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Zach, Are you sure it is only for public events? I know it mentioned that in some cities bottled water has not been allowed to be sold at public events but at the beginning of the article all it says is they are discussing whether to ban bottled water and plastic grocery bags...
Jan 17, 2008 at 4:37 p.m.
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Does that mean that they will also ban other plastic containers at these events? Example, Pepsi, Coke, etc...
Jan 17, 2008 at 3:03 p.m.
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Remember in the good ol' days when we had glass bottles for soda? I remember hauling my mom's empty Diet Rite bottles into Woodman's and she let me keep the deposit money. Yes, it was a pain, but was a great job for a kid. Maybe that's the solution. If there is a deposit involved, that surely will get people to watch what they throw away.
Jan 17, 2008 at 2:43 p.m.
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Good point, Zach. The infrastructure isn't in place to expect that all water bottles are going to be recycled. When people are out in public places and have an empty water bottle, many will throw it in a receptacle regardless of whether it is trash or recycling (or litter).
Jan 17, 2008 at 2:40 p.m.
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It's hard for me to respect the rhetorical nature of questions on these forums. It appears--from the unanimous vote by the council to discuss these bans--that the Madison council, and most likely the residents of Madison, view this as a priority. If there was something the residents in your town were interested in seeing changed, wouldn't you hope your city administration and government would consider changing it--or at least discussing possibilities to change it?
Jan 17, 2008 at 2:33 p.m.
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The bottled water ban is only for public events because the bottles are often thrown in trash cans and not recycled.
Jan 17, 2008 at 1:49 p.m.
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Can't they find something better to do?
Jan 17, 2008 at 1:46 p.m.
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Ban bottled water?? They better come up with some better tasting tap water before they start banning bottled water! I moved here from the mountains in NC and I had some of the best spring water in the world and I refuse to drink the nasty, (often brown) stuff that comes from my tap! I buy bottled water and I recycle my bottles! If they are worried about people not recycling then ticket someone for not doing it, don't ban the water and punish everyone for what a few do...
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