The Bag It campaign is creating momentum around a possible plastic-bag ban in Durango, but opponents are arguing such a ban would limit personal choice and could even drive people toward environmentally harmful alternatives.

“For all of us, the right thing is different,” City Councilor Doug Lyon said recently. “When we talk about a plastic-bag ban, what we’re doing is taking what is right for someone else to do and forcing it upon others.”

But Erich Bussian, director of the Bag It campaign in Durango, said everyone has an obligation to protect the environment and doing so makes this a more attractive place to live.

“In the case of Durango, it’s actually a positive step. Durango is progressive and moving towards trying to take care of the environment,” Bussian said.

At least two local stores, Durango Natural Foods and Natural Grocers, already do not offer plastic bags.

Lyon, however, argues that a ban would be only minimally effective.

“The overall environmental footprint of someone who might use plastic bags but lives downtown and walks is smaller than someone living in Bayfield driving in and using reusable bags,” Lyon said.

For an idea of how a ban might play out, officials need only look north to Telluride, where an ordinance was enacted that banned plastic bags and enforced a 10-cent tax on paper bags. Only two shopping markets and one hardware store were affected.

Harold Wondsel, a Telluride resident who identifies himself as a longtime environmentalist, opposes the law.

“My heart is broken because the green movement has separated itself from scientific environmentalism,” Wondsel said.

He believes the ban is doing more harm than good by pushing people to more harmful alternatives, such as driving to Montrose to shop.

But Mark DeMist, general manager of Clark’s Market in Telluride, said most customers – about 75 percent – have adapted and are bringing their own bags now.

“I have more people that are willing to carry products out of store rather then using a paper bag,” DeMist said. “Sometimes they don’t need a bag at all.”

He said concerns that the ban would be bothersome to tourists also seems unfounded.

“Over the summer, we didn’t get much grief. Tourists weren’t surprised when plastic bags were banned,” DeMist said.

Bussian said there is no instance anywhere in the world where tourism has been affected by a plastic-bag ban.

But opponents here are concerned.

“Anytime you make something less convenient, say shopping in Durango, you get less of it,” Lyon said.

Bussian said the message it sends about Durango’s stewardship of the environment is a strong marketing point.

“I believe this moves us forward, not backward in that department,” he said.

Wondsel attacks the ban on scientific grounds, arguing plastics bags are the least-harmful option. He points to a 2007 study by the United Kingdom’s Environment Agency that found that lightweight plastic bags, also known as High Density Polyethylene bags, are recycled 40 percent of the time.

“A single-use bag is very much a misnomer,” Wondsel said.

The report found that common reusable bags, like the ones sold at both City Market locations for 99 cents, have to be reused at least 11 times to bring their emissions impact down to that of a plastic bag used once.

Opponents point to the fact that plastic bags are often reused, sometimes more than once.

Gwen Lachelt, the director of Earthwork’s Oil & Gas Accountability Project located in Durango, wants residents to think big when it comes to reversing global warming.

“We need to think about other ways we can reduce our use of energy resources in order to reduce the effects of climate change,” Lachelt said.

Bussian agrees that plastic bags are only part of the solution – but every bit counts.

“Plastic bags are a bigger part of the discussion,” Bussian said. “It takes energy to make these plastic bags, and it heats the Earth.”

So far, the Bag It campaign has collected more than 1,000 signatures.

“This city has already acknowledged that there is a lot of support in the community to enforce a tax or ban on single-use bags,” Bussian said.

The city has formed a task force on the issue that will make a recommendation to the City Council.

“I anticipate that this will happen sometime around the first part of the year,” Bussian said.

So far, no law has been drafted. But supporters say the details must be right to avoid unintended consequences.

“I think that it is important to have some sort of minimal fee on paper, because paper isn’t great, either,” Bussian said.

As for limiting personal choice, Bussian said regulations are something we’ve long accepted in the interest of the greater good.

“As a society, we recognize that there is an issue here,” he said.

Lyon, however, is dubious.

“If a ban passes, I feel there will be a large community outcry. I don’t think that people want their freedom to choose what kind of bag to use taken away from them,” he said.

pblank@durangoherald.com