According to City Council member Anne Mavity, the City Council decided to table the plastic bag ban when it found plastic bags contributed to less than 1 percent of municipal waste in St. Louis Park.

Mavity said the City Council worked together with St. Louis Park to find more effective ways to increase sustainability.

“A few years ago, St. Louis Park started a discussion on how to be a leader in environmental issues. Municipalities have been trying to deal with this issue and the use of plastic bags came up,” Mavity said. “We got input from Hennepin County, the state of Minnesota and Park residents.”

According to Mavity, after studying the issue of plastic bags, the City Council found cities that banned plastic bags also increased other waste output.

“We found that places who have banned plastic bag use paper bags, which takes a lot of energy,” Mavity said.

Senior Maria Lezama said residents’ need for plastic bags outweighs the environmental benefits of a ban.

“I think they shouldn’t ban plastic bags because people use them,” Lezama said. “It would be weird without them in our daily life.”

City Council member Tim Brausen said members introduced an idea called “Bring Your Own Bag” that could solve the plastic bag issue by requiring people to pay 10 cents when they get a plastic bag at the store, but the City Council didn’t get the four necessary votes for its passage.

“We thought having a 10-cent bag fee on plastic and paper bags would encourage people to bring their own bags rather than paying 10 cents,” Brausen said.

According to Brausen, City Council members who opposed “Bring Your Own Bag” felt it would place a burden on the residents if they had to pay 10 cents for a plastic bag and follow the new state law requiring businesses and homeowners in Minnesota to recycle.

Brausen also said City Council members took a closer look at St. Louis Park’s food waste.

“We want to focus more on the organic waste, which is the main waste in our waste stream,” Brausen said. “We haven’t thrown away the plastic bag idea. We are putting it on the shelf just for now.”

Freshman Aneadra Davis said she supports the idea of focusing on the organic waste.

“It’s a good idea that we are focusing on organic waste because it has a bigger percentage than plastic bags in St. Louis Park. Plastic bags can be recycled, but food can’t,” Davis said.

Brausen said residents of St. Louis Park should work together to make the city more sustainable.

“We’ve got to change our mindset on the single-use mentality of throwing away plastic bags. We can’t always do the cheapest way,” Brausen said. “We should be healthy and sustainable, and we continue to encourage that.”