Teen proposes ban on paper, plastic bags in Blackfoot

Paper or plastic? That could become a question of the past in Blackfoot, as a Snake River High School student is pushing for a ban on paper and plastic bags.

Hayley Lemon said she’s doing this for her senior project.

The number of plastic bags people go through in Blackfoot might surprise you.

“I went and interviewed the managers of Ridleys, Walmart and Keslers, our main businesses, and it comes to a total of around 7 million bags for such a small community,” she said.

Hayley Lemon discovered this while doing research for her senior project.

Her goal is for Blackfoot to lead the way.

“Hopefully that will sort of create a domino effect,” she said. “Maybe this will move on to Pocatello and Idaho Falls and influence other areas around us to get this going.”

Hayley has gotten a lot of support on this. But some still have their concerns.

“As bad as plastic bags are and even paper bags, it’d be inconvenient if they weren’t available anymore,” said Bob Kesler, owner of Kesler’s Market. “I don’t know what the alternative would be other than people bringing their own container.”

“I think it will be tough for the public to get used to at first, like it’s a different change to get used to, definitely,” said Hayley.

Kesler said he didn’t know what his store would do.

“(Stores could use the) reusable woven ones like they use at Costco,” said Hayley. “We could start selling those in the stores for how ever much each business decides to sell them.”

Kesler said there was a bigger issue than inconvenience, however.

“People bring in their own bags, which is fine, but if they do that all the time and they have leaky stuff in their bags, the bags become contaminated and that could become a health issue,” he said.

Lemon will present her idea to the Blackfoot City Council on Tuesday night.

Hayley said Hawaii and California have similar bans, and the laws have worked well in those states.