Bag ban now law

Get ready to pack your bags – literally! The Town Council ban of plastic bags in stores takes effect today. Reusable and paper bags are about to become a common sight in La Conner.

Shoppers at Pioneer Market will no longer have their goodies placed in a typical plastic bag. Sean Skiles, owner of the Morris Street market, said, “We are not opposed to doing our part in keeping things safe, clean and green in La Conner.”

Although it is required for all La Conner stores to stop using plastic bags, Pioneer Market has an extension of up to four months so they can use the bags they already have. In December they will fully transition into paper. Skiles will be working with various youth and community groups to hold reusable bag fundraisers for the store.

The town’s only grocery, the Market will be the most affected: they give out hundreds of bags daily. This unexpected ban has left many customers unhappy with the town council’s decision. According to Thea, a Pioneer Market cashier, “plastic bags have handles and are easy to carry, so a lot of customers don’t want to switch to using paper bags.”

Local business owners have been left feeling inconvenienced. Luckily for the Seaside Gallery on First street, the hundreds of dollars they spent on six-millimeter-thick polyethylene plastic bags will not go to waste: Those are deemed reusable according to one of the owners, Mark Bistranin. Bistranin was more concerned that the town council did not ask for any of the store owners’ opinions before they passed the ordinance.

“Most businesses were shock-ed,” said Bistranin. Another upsetting factor is that paper bags will not suffice in Washington’s rainy weather. Art gallery owners are worried their pieces will not be preserved when given to customers without proper plastic packaging.

Even with the mixed emotions about the bag ban, the ban will still have a positive impact on the environment, so gallery owners like Bistranin and Doug Bison, owner of the Blackfish Gallery, are happy to abide. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Bison said.