On July 28th the Seattle City Council passed a new ordinance that will require a “green fee” for disposable shopping bags used by convenience stores, drug stores and grocery stores in Seattle. The stores will charge 20 cents for each bag. The ordinance goes into effect on January 1, 2009. Mayor Nickles put out a press release praising its passage. Here is a brief summary of the ordinance, along with a link to the complete text, if you would like to know more.

Ord. 122752
C.B. 116251
AN ORDINANCE relating to the City of Seattle’s solid waste system, establishing an advanced recovery fee (a green fee) for disposable shopping bags, providing a deduction for the green fee from the City’s business license tax, creating two new positions, and amending Seattle Municipal Code Chapters 21.36, 21.40, and 5.45.

The Mayor’s Office also has a page describing the initial push to pass this bring your own bag legislation.

If you want to search for information on new legislation, just use our library local links to the City of Seattle, or directly to the Seattle City Clerk’s Office. And remember that we have links to the Seattle Municipal Code, if you need to find out more about the current laws in our city.