Could Michigan Ban Plastic Shopping Bags Soon?

the local, state, and federal governments have been working tirelessly for years on trying to make our country green. Introducing initiatives, passing laws, and holding events to encourage proper waste dumping processes as well as taking care of our world and atmosphere. Programs like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and incentives like bottle returns are some of the most commonly known efforts.

Michigan is one of the states that care more than others about being green, most of that comes from wanting to preserve and protect our nature and freshwater sources within the state. The other part of that is Michigan being a progressive state that believes and science, acknowledging our problem with global warming, fossil fuels, and other environmental concerns. With this in mind, the state of Michigan could be making moves to impose a new ban within the Mitten state.

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Many states across America have started to make advancements and place policies around turning their states green and taking care of their surroundings. Michigan is one of those states that has leaned heavily into the environmentalist mindset but there are some ideas they are taking from other state's books. States like New Jersey and New York have already banned everyday items that contribute to the destruction of the atmosphere and Michigan may be joining them.

The Michigan House Committee passed a bill that would place a special tax or complete ban on single-use plastic bags. House Bill 4359 would reverse a state law from 2016 that says local ordinances weren't allowed to place taxes on any kind of bag or container used by retailers. The 2016 law was passed by the Republican-led house after a dispute occurred in Washtenaw County.

The Michigan House Fiscal Agency brought up the fact that large cities like New York and Chicago along with several other states have already banned single-use plastic bags. Customers within these cities or states are required to bring reusable shopping bags or simply carry their items out by hand. They believe that the ban or tax would help resolve an issue that disproportionally affects urban communities, such as water contamination.

The opposition believes that this will add costs for consumers and add extra hoops for retailers to jump through when the business is already challenging enough. The bill still has to pass the likes of the Michigan Senate and then would have to be signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as there is no timeline for either of these events at the moment.

For now, our single-use plastic bags are safe to use and are still free of cost but shortly we could see them completely removed from cash registers or they will have a tax imposed for using them. Are you a fan of this idea or do you think this is all ridiculous and banning/taxing single-use plastic bags is pointless and will do nothing for the cause?