When I first caught wind of a potential initiative to ban or tax plastic bags by Decatur’s Environmental Sustainability Board back in October, the post produced 87 comments of a heated back-and-forth about everything from the dangers of plastic bags to the dangers of banning plastic bags.

Well, now the Board is openly appealing to the Decatur population at-large to take a 5-question survey to get a better gauge of support for legislation that would either ban, tax or limit the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam by retailers.

Why plastic bags and Styrofoam?  Here’s the Board’s argument…

Estimates are that in the U.S. 60,000 plastic bags are used every 5 seconds. Less than 10% of these are recycled.

Polystyrene foam adds to the waste stream and presents a hazard for birds and other wildlife as it breaks up into indigestible pellets. The market now provides products that serve the same commercial purpose, are readily available and are less harmful for the environment.

How will/did you respond?