Approximately 11,380 tons of litter are deposited annually on Ohio's county, state, interstate, and U.S. routs, and 392 tons of litter are deposited annually on Ohio's interchanges, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources Statewide Litter Study (Final Report).
Idea
Would be to implement the use of reusable bags, instead of plastic or paper, which would drastically help reduce the amount of litter contributed to our neighborhoods.
Goal
To eliminate the need to use plastic bags
Strategies
This goal can be achieved through a number of measures.
- To ban plastic bags, and to charge for paper bag use.
- Another option would be to have the city provide a set number of reusable bags to each household each year. The city could obtain this extra cost through grants.
- The local grocers could lead this initiative by providing reusable bags for those who cannot afford to purchase them. Or,
- Having a Reusable Bag Drop off, or donation, from the community or neighboring communities to then re-distribute.
Each idea above could result in the same positive outcome of reducing litter across neighborhoods, however a few of these ideas would result in money being spent either by the city or the residents. Option 4 would prove to be the best option for the City of Whitehall because it would not cost the city, or residents, any money. The donation centers could be local business sites, the Postal Service locations, or even grocery stores themselves. The distribution of the reusable bags could be done by the same donation centers, or through the city to direct the reusable bags to targeted areas, or grocery stores themselves could handle the distribution of these reusable bags. There are many cities implementing this type of reusable donation center, large and small, which are discussed further in the example section found below.
MORPC Sustainability Agenda
This Reusable Bag Initiative will help the City of Whitehall in their efforts to achieve the MORPC Sustainability Agenda's target, for the goals listed in the chart below. Depending on how aggressive the City is with this initiative will determine if the City achieves its 2020 target.
| Element | Description | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| 2.3 | Reduce the amount of municipal solid waste per capita disposed in the landfill | Reduce amount of waste produced |
| 3.1 | Increase the number of businesses in Central Ohio with established sustainability policies and practices. | To show businesses the financial benefit of being sustainable |
To view the full MORPC Sustainability Agenda 2017-2020, please click on the link below.
MORPC SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA 2017-2020 document
Examples
There are a couple of examples that can be used to help guide the City of Whitehall in the efforts to reduce litter rates through implementing this reusable bag initiative. City Lab includes an article suggesting what to do with extra reusable bags, such as donating them to those in need. Here is a link to this article for reference Link.
For recycling efforts in general, the giant city to the west, Columbus, has their Columbus' Green Memo III which serves as a great guide especially since both Whitehall and Columbus are in the same county. This document can be found at the following link,link
Sources
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Litter Prevention. Online http://epa.ohio.gov/ocapp/litter.aspx#165054412-litter-reduction. Accessed 12 April 2018.
- Ohio Statewide Litter Study. Final Report. Davey Resource Group. June 2004. Online http://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/41/recycling/OhioStatewideLitterStudy.pdf. Accessed 12 April 2018.
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- 1bag at a time. Online https://1bagatatime.com/products/. Accessed 12 April 2018.