Press Room

Shropshire finds business support for plastic bag ban

By Nicole Young, Staff Writer

With less than a month to go before a vote to ban the distribution of plastic shopping bags in Annapolis, Alderman Sam Shropshire, D-Ward 7, said he has some local businesses' support in the bag.

Mr. Shropshire and Kelly Davis, an environmental consultant who has been helping him with research, walked through downtown last week, talking to shop owners and getting feedback about the bill.

At an announcement yesterday near the Market House, he said more than 20 business owners have pledged their support, including those from coffee shops Hard Bean, 49 West and City Dock, and retailers such as Tiffany's Epiphany and Treasure Island.

"Many signed on to support it immediately," Mr. Shropshire said. "I want to make sure the legislation is done appropriately and isn't harmful to small business."

The City Council is expected to vote Nov. 19 on the citywide ban on plastic bags, originally introduced in July. If it passes, Annapolis will be the first municipality to ban them completely.

Brian Cahalan, owner of the coffee and wine bar 49 West, said although his shop isn't doing much now on the environmental front, he supports Mr. Shropshire's bag ban and is looking into switching to corn-based plastic cups for beverages.

"We're trying to find new alternatives," he said. "If enough of us get interested, local distributors can carry new products. We have to find another product."

Mr. Cahalan said the switch to a greener product base could increase prices, but he said customers have told him they would be willing to pay a nickel more per cup of coffee.

"We gotta do what we can, and if we start to make the changes now, other companies will come along and make better changes and better products and slowly we'll get there," he said. "We are the gem of the Chesapeake Bay and have the world looking at us right now. Instead of being followers, we could be leaders."

But not every business has been won over by Mr. Shropshire.

During the support-seeking mission downtown, he said, he came across owners of three businesses who didn't support the bill. In addition, grocery chain Safeway continues its push to keep plastic shopping bags.

Bruce Bereano, an Annapolis lobbyist representing Safeway, said yesterday's rally announcing local business support for the bill won't change anything.

"It's an illogical proposition full of a lot of holes," he said. "The assertions just don't have any scientific or factual basis. It was just a last-gasp effort on the issue."

Mr. Bereano also said many of the businesses that have rallied behind Mr. Shropshire wouldn't be affected by the ban because they don't use plastic bags.

"The ones who are against it are against it no matter what," Mr. Shropshire said. "That's just the way things are."

But in an effort to garner more support among his peers, Mr. Shropshire said earlier this month that he plans to introduce three amendments to his bill, including one to give smaller retailers more time to adjust to the changes. He said he would like to see the ban in effect within six months of passage for the larger retailers, and within nine months for smaller shops.

Another amendment removes the phrase "paper bag" from the text of the bill and replaces it with "100 percent recyclable paper bags" to be more specific about what bags could be offered instead of plastic ones.

The third amendment focuses on a citywide campaign to encourage the use of reusable bags.

City officials already have announced that they're taking an active approach to environmental efforts, including a bill that's pending before the council to toughen litter laws and increase the fine for violations from $100 to $250. Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, who introduced the measure, also has said the city will distribute reusable bags to its households and will increase recycling efforts downtown.

"Annapolis is leading the nation on this issue," Mr. Shropshire said. "It could be very well what happens here in November will sweep from town to town. We have a chance on this issue to change the nation and I'm excited."

Published Oct. 26, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2007 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.