September 15, 2011

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LOOK INSIDE:

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Art center opening

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CCAH awarded grant

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Final Flock Talk

the

Sopris Carbondale’s

Trustees continue plastic bag talk Outright ban nears the table

weekly, non-profit newspaper

Sun

Volume 3, Number 31 | September 15, 2011

It’s a dog’s world

By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer

C

arbondale’s trustees flirted with imposing a fee on plastic checkout grocery bags Tuesday night then continued the discussion to Oct. 25 after indicating they’ll consider an outright ban. Banning plastic bags, either throughout the town or at specific stores, was put on the table after a majority of the Aspen City Council unexpectedly said they support a ban on plastic bags in their town rather than imposing a 20 cent per bag fee on Monday night. Carbondale, Aspen and Basalt are trying to coordinate ordinances to dramatically reduce the number of plastic bags used in each town. “We need to eliminate plastic in our lives,” said Carbondale Trustee John Foulkrod during Tuesday night’s discussion.“It’s the right thing to do … stop using them (plastic bags.)” Earlier in the year, CORE (the local non-profit Community Office of Resource Efficiency) approached Roaring Fork Valley towns and proposed a regional approach to reducing plastic bags’ use. Among the reasons to reduce their use, according to Carbondale’s draft ordinance considered Tuesday night, is “because the production of these types of bags contributes to natural resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and waterborne wastes.” The draft ordinance to impose a 20-cent fee on bags, which the trustees could have voted on Tuesday night, also states in part, “the use of disposable, single use bags has a significant impact on the local environment … “ and the bags create “a burden on the Town’s waste disposal resources” and they “take up valuable landfill space … .” As discussed at previous trustee meetings, Carbondale is considering a fee on plastic bags in an effort to force people to bring reusable bags to the grocery store when they shop, which in turn will lead to fewer plastic bags escaping into the environment and less oil being used for their production in the first place. During public comment Tuesday night, most speakers supported a fee on plastic bags or an outright ban. Satank resident Tamar Mattorano described how she caught a trout in the Crystal River recently and found a vegetable bag in its stomach. “Why not ban all bags?” she said. Jeanette Whitcomb told the trustees a fee is the first step toward a ban.“It has to start somewhere.” Stacey Stein said “We have to start stopping putting so much plastic in the environment” and a valley-wide effort will give “power to the punch.” Two people spoke against a fee on plastic bags or banning them. One of them, Duane Stewart, PLASTIC BAGS page 4

Grand-standing border collies? Not really, but they were willing photo subjects at Strang Ranch this week. An estimated 750 border collies are in and around town for the National Sheepdog Finals through Sept. 18. Of the 750 dogs, 225 and their handlers are actually competing. For details on the finals, please turn to page 3. Photo by Jane Bachrach


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