Paper or plastic? Surfside Beach may soon make the decision for you

Paper or plastic?

Plastic bags may soon be banned in the Town of Surfside Beach after council members opened a discussion on the topic during Tuesday night’s council meeting. The motion, which was added to the Jan. 9 agenda, would make Surfside the first Grand Strand area to ban plastic bags.

“Solving the issues begins at the local level,” councilwoman Julie Samples said. “I believe this discussion is way overdue and I would like to start a dialogue. There are already towns that have enacted plastic bag bans. I’m by no means an expert but I’m certainly an advocate for my beach and our ocean and I think it’s important we take the time and do the research as it relates to our oceans. We can stop plastic bags from getting into our stormwater drains, and clearly we’re going to reduce the threat to wildlife. I believe the discussion has been long overdue.”

Most of the council members agreed with the idea of banning the bags, as well as various town residents who came forward to speak on the topic.

Erin Pate, a member of the Coastal Conservation League stated, “It would be hard to find someone who doesn’t think that plastic bags pose a serious threat to wildlife. In addition, single-use plastic bags are difficult to recycle. Only 5 percent of plastic bags are actually recycled. A plastic bag ban will reduce that amount of plastic coming from Surfside Beach.”

A study done by the Solid Waste Authority in 2016 showed that roughly 1,300 plastic bags were found in each garbage truck during any one run, Samples said.

Facebook users have created an online petition that supports waste plastic reduction.The petition states “Plastic bags are entering our environment at an alarming rate and our ocean and marine life are suffering from the 500 billion single use bags used each year.”

So far, just over 620 people have signed the petition, which has a goal of 1,000 signatures.

However, councilman Mark Johnson stated that there has been action in the state on this topic, and suggested waiting to see what the legislatures passed before making a local move. He also asked council to take a survey from business owners to find out their opinions on the motion.

Neither of his suggestions were supported by council members or residents.

“This is not a new thing that just happened in the Town of Surfside Beach,” councilman Ron Ott said. “This is going to stop these bags from being used. Wal-Mart, they have a procedure. It’s a process that’s going to be part of our lives whether we like it or not.”

The first reading of the motion will be heard in January.

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Paper or plastic? Surfside Beach may soon make the decision for you."