Crested Butte Council ponders move to eliminate plastic bags

Tourism impacts being considered

With almost 2,000 signatures collected in favor of a plastic bag ban in the area, the Office for Resource Efficiency is continuing to pursue the idea. ORE executive director Kristen Van Housen reported to the Crested Butte Town Council on the progress of the initiative at the May 19 meeting.

“This needs some more time to accomplish,” Van Housen said. “We aren’t ready to ask the council for a position tonight. But we have a lot of support for plastic bag elimination from citizens and businesses.”
Van Housen supplied the council with several letters of support for the ban from established Crested Butte businesses. She also cited a Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce survey showing 53 percent of responding businesses were in favor of such a move.
“The general feedback seems to be to eliminate plastic bags and offer paper bags with no fee,” Van Housen said.
Answering a question from Councilperson Chris Ladoulis, Van Housen said the primary bag distributor in Crested Butte, Clark’s Market, was on board with the ban. “Their other stores have dealt with it in other ski towns,” she said.
Gunnison native and supporter of the bag ban Dan Piquette made an impassioned plea for the council to support the idea.
“I want to be able to tell my grandchildren we took some action,” he said. “We’re good about talking about problems but it is time to do something about this. As long as these bags are in the grocery stores, people will use them.”
Councilperson and Alpine Express bus driver Jim Schmidt said he ferries a lot of tourists who stop at the grocery store before heading to their condos. He said they don’t bring bags with them.
“Why not have the local businesses design a bag with the various logos and then hand them out to people when they get off the planes?” Piquette said. “And then let them take them home. It would actually be great advertising for the area.”
Van Housen said there has been talk about a Gunnison Valley souvenir bag being designed. “Tourism is a component we are considering as we move through this,” she said.
Schmidt said he would want to see specific ideas to flesh out that idea.
“You guys have the chance to do something good,” concluded Piquette. “We have to start somewhere and this isn’t a giant step.”
Van Housen said she would be back to specifically ask the council for action on the matter sometime in the future.