PORT TOWNSEND — An effort to ban plastic shopping bags in Port Townsend received a monster-sized boost earlier this week with a presentation to the City Council dramatizing the effect of the ubiquitous receptacles on the local ecology.
Port Townsend resident Jude Rubin arrived at Monday’s council meeting dressed up as a “Bag Monster,” wearing a suit made of plastic shopping bags that made her look like a cross between a Yeti and a landfill.
“My name is Bag, B-A-G, Monster, spelled like it sounds,” Rubin said, echoing the standard introductory requirement of the public comment period.
“I’m made up of 500 bags, which is, give or take, what everyone in Port Townsend uses in a year.
“I’ve lived in Port Townsend for 25 years, and I’m here to stay.
“I never break down, and I never decompose.”
The Port Townsend City Council will not take action on a possible ban of plastic bags until at least May, said Councilwoman Michelle Sandoval.
The matter is now in the hands of the special projects committee, which is charged with crafting an ordinance and submitting it to the full council to vote for or against.
Rubin — who said she was acting as a volunteer in the demonstration, which is separate from her career as an ecologist — exaggerated a New York accent during Monday’s tongue-in-cheek presentation of the “monster” urging the council not to approve a ban on the use of plastic bags.
“We’ve heard people talk about the effect of plastic bags on the environment, how all the birds have bags in their stomachs and how this baby whale washed up on the beach and died because it couldn’t eat,” the monster said.
“Well, boo hoo hoo.”
The monster bragged about its family life, saying he and his wife make about 750 new monsters every month, so by the next meeting, “there will be 750 more of us.
“I love it here; I love the quality of life,” Rubin-as-monster said.
“You got the air. You can blow around, and I see a lot of my friends in the water.”
The monster took offense at some of the press coverage about plastic bags.
“Some people think I’m solid waste, and that’s an insult,” it said.
“I’m toxic; I’m made of petroleum.”
The monster said the council should not echo the actions of Bellingham, Seattle and San Francisco, saying it would be too easy to take the ordinances passed in those towns and “scratch out a few things” to come up with a local ordinance.
Jim Todd, who is gathering names on a petition to support a ban, said that is exactly what the city would do if it were to impose a ban: take an existing ordinance and tailor it to Port Townsend.
Todd said he has gathered more than 300 signatures so far from people he knows and plans to widen that scope to present it at public tables at the Food Co-op and the Port Townsend Farmers Market when it opens in April.
“I think the time has come for us to take action,” Sandoval said.
“We need to recognize that plastic bags are harmful to the environment, and we need to look seriously at a ban.”
City Manager David Timmons said the ordinance must include a strategy for enforcing the ban.
Supporters of the ban say plastic bags pose a serious threat to orcas, salmon, seals, and other wildlife because they can ingest them, choke on them or be harmed by toxins.
A recent study with input from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center found that on the Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is located near the mouth of Discovery Bay, one in 10 gulls were found to have eaten the thin plastic that is used in grocery bags.
In Washington, Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds and Mukilteo have taken the initiative to ban plastic bags, while Seattle, Olympia, Port Townsend, Bainbridge Island and Lake Forest Park are considering such action.
Out of character after the presentation, Rubin said the monster suit was borrowed from Seattle supporters of the bag ban and could make another appearance in the near future.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
