Aspen bans plastic bags, charges for paper
By Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Daily News
Aspen City Council on Tuesday voted 4 to 1 to ban plastic bags from the two grocery stores in town and place a 20-cent fee on paper bags.
The new law will take effect May 1.
Councilman Derek Johnson was the lone dissenter, saying that while he supports reducing waste, the ban doesn’t give people a choice and it could cost the city money to implement.
“I think we can do better,” he said.
In a Sept. 13 hearing on the issue, Johnson argued a ban would be too onerous on out-of-town tourists unfamiliar with the law.
The council has been talking about either a ban or a fee on plastic bags for the past two years. It was only a couple of weeks ago that a proposed 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags morphed into a possible ban.