PETITION CLOSED

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Tell Seattle: Ban Single Use Plastic Bags
  1. Signatures
    1,369 out of 1,500
    Petitioning
    1. Seattle City Council President (Richard Conlin)
  2. Created By
    Marah Hardt
    Kailua Kona, HI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Question: What's scarier than plastic in our landfills? 

How about an ocean that's more plastic than plankton? Every day, the Pacific and other oceans of the world become more and more clogged by plastic pollution.  And every day we make the small decisions that contribute to this problem—especially when we use single-use, disposable plastic products. Well over half the plastic that now threatens to entangle, drown, choke, poison or starve marine life and seabirds comes from land. And one of the biggest sources is from single-use plastic bags.

Americans alone toss 100 billion bags each year, equivalent to 12 million barrels of oil.

This August, the city of Edmonds in Washington took a giant leap forward in helping to protect the mighty sea that laps the state's shores by banning the use of plastic bags in all stores. There has been no major fall out, with customers and businesses adjusting to the ordinance calmly, effectively and quickly.  It seems they weren't tricked by the the American Chemistry Council, who poured millions into campaigns to block such bans. The ACC's scare tactics worked to turn Californians into cowards this fall and to prevent Seattle's first initiative to tax plastic bag use.

The example of Edmonds shows there is nothing scary about banning plastic bags.

Let the members of Seattle's Council know it is time they stopped being such scaredey-cats.

photo credit: eflon

Recent Signatures

Join Edmonds and Ban Single-use Plastic Bags

Greetings,

I am writing to encourage your council to join the city of Edmonds in issuing a ban on single-use plastic bags in the city of Seattle. While I appreciate your council's efforts in the past, the time has passed for caving to corporate interests. Single-use plastic bags are one of the major sources of plastic pollution on the planet, contributing to the declines in marine life and seabirds from Seattle's coast to the shorelines of remote Pacific Atolls.

Every year Americans use and discard over 100 billion plastic bags. It is a waste of energy and source of pollution that has no rationale for existence outside of convenience.

Seattle is known for its commitment to greener, healthier lifestyles for its residents and serves as a flagship for other cities across the globe. I ask that you continue this tradition by stepping up to the plate to ban the use of plastic bags in all stores throughout your city.

Thank you,

Thank you for your attention to this issue and I look forward to seeing the ripple affect Seattle's leadership will create across the country.

[Your name]

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