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Explore our latest coverage of environmental issues, climate change and more.

Paper Or Plastic? ... Or No Bag At All?

Elaine Thompson
/
AP
Municipalities, states and countries have debated for years how to curb the use of plastic bags.

If you had to pay a fee whenever you needed a plastic bag at the checkout, would it prompt you to remember a reusable bag? What if plastic bags were altogether banned? On the next Vermont Edition, we look at different efforts to reduce flimsy plastic bags.

Two bills are in the House Fish Wildlife Committee that would levy a fee on disposable carry-out bags, or ban them altogether. We talk with Committee Chair David Deen about his preferred approach to get reduce plastic bags, and the prospects for passing either measure before the biennium ends in 2018.

We're also joined by Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell. At Town Meeting, Brattleboro voters directed their select board to ban plastic bags in town. Elwell updates on where that effort stands.

And what about the impact on retailers? Erin Sigrist of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association joins us to explain some of their concerns. VRGA has not taken a stance on either Vermont bill.

Also on the program: This morning a frightening alert went out to parents of students in the Chittenden Central Supervisory Union that schools in Essex Junction were on lockdown due to a credible threat at Essex High School. VPR's Taylor Dobbs provided an update on the situation from Essex Junction, shortly after the high school went from a lockdown to a lockout.

Broadcast live on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Patti is an integral part of VPR's news effort and part of the team that created Vermont Edition. As executive producer, Patti supervises the team that puts Vermont Edition on the air every day, working with producers to select and research show ideas, select guests and develop the sound and tone of the program.
Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
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