Newly-elected City Council Member Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner made a move Monday to fulfill one of his campaign promises at only the second council meeting of his four-year term. Wagner put a motion before council to ban the sale of plastic sand bags, which he said are environmentally harmful.
After a brief discussion, council voted unanimously 5-0 to direct staff to write up an ordinance banning the bags, and instead encouraging the use of biodegradable bags made of hemp, jute and cotton.
“There are a number of commodities that are available at the same price as plastic bags,” Wagner argued. “We are responsible as a community for that ocean… I feel this is something that’s easy for us to do.”
Council agreed, though Council Member Laura Rosenthal and Mayor Lou La Monte expressed skepticism over the sturdiness of natural sand bags. Wagner’s responses revealed the degree of research he had done on the subject of biodegradable sand bags. He assured the two, given proper storage, natural bags hold up just as well as plastic.