DENVER — Monday night, the Denver City Council unanimously approved a measure that would require retail stores to charge customers 10 cents for each single-use plastic or paper bag they use.
The council approved the measure after a brief comment session that was mostly supporting, according to the Denver Post.
A second vote is required for proposed laws and the council will vote again next week before passing the measure along to Mayor Michael Hancock, who is in support of it, according to the Post.
If the measure is put into place, it would go into effect in July, the Post said. Denver would then join 13 other cities in Colorado that have similar fees or bans on these types of bags. The hope is that the fees will encourage customers to use reusable bags and diminish their environmental footprint.
“In Denver alone, about 200 million bags are used each year and that’s just in Denver,” said Councilwoman Kendra Black, one of the measure’s co-sponsors. “But based on what we’ve learned from other cities, we expect that will decline by 70%.”
