Olsen explains the plastic bag problem

Logan City council member Herm Olsen has proposed banning single-use plastic bags that are popular in retail stores. A public hearing will be held at the first meeting of the Logan City Council in February about this issue. Olsen was a guest on KVNU’s For the People program on Thursday and told host Jason Williams that the issue is a serious one but he acknowledged that nobody likes change.

“For a generation we have been given free, single-use plastic bags to carry our Snickers bars and our bar of soap out from the store to the car. It’s convenient, it’s easy. I’m used to it,” admitted Olsen.

He said the problem is that these bags blow in the wind, get caught in trees and fences and make a mess. He said many people do make an effort to throw the bags in the trash, as they cannot be recycled in the light blue recycle bins. And they might make it to the landfill and get buried, but that’s not good either.

“That actually is a bit of a problem, but it’s not the biggest. The biggest is that on a windy day those bags go flying out of our garbage cans, out onto the road, into the ditches, into the gutters, into the rivers and throughout the county. That includes from Avon to Lewiston.”

Olsen echoed the Boy Scouts’ motto when it comes to the outdoors – ‘Leave no trace.’ He feels Logan City needs to set a good example and do its share to tackle the problem.

Audio: Herm Olsen discusses proposed plastic bag ban on KVNU’s For the People

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4 Comments

  • Marina Kesling January 12, 2019 at 7:30 am Reply

    Worse than plastic bags are the legions of people who walk their dogs and do NOT ‘scoop the poop’. I’ve seen the careless and thoughtless practice all over this town and, combined with the many children out playing outdoors and coming in contact with it.

    Logan has an ordinance requiring people to pick up their dog’s deposits…… it isn’t enforced. I am outraged.

  • Paul Rogers January 14, 2019 at 10:02 am Reply

    Great work on this issue Councilman Olsen! Understanding the flow of garbage generally, an un-recyclable plastic specifically, in Cache Valley is an important first step toward keeping our own nest clean. It is enjoyable and rewarding to bring one’s own cloth bag to the store and leave without blemishing our planet.

  • L Allen January 18, 2019 at 4:25 pm Reply

    What a total waste of energy. Lets deal with some REAL issues and stop picking up pennies and letting the dollars roll by. A more aggressive recycling requirement from the city/county would be a good start. By weight this would blow away, pun intended, anything to do with plastic bags.

  • C. Stephensen January 21, 2019 at 3:48 pm Reply

    The cities are making it way too hard for people in the valley to recycle. The list of non recyclable items just keeps getting longer. Let’s see the city step up with a real recycling program.

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