Seattle Votes Against 20 Cent Bag Fee

Although bringing your own bag has become pretty mainstream in Seattle, the companies that don't support the greener trend are the companies that prefer green dollars instead.

It all comes down to the numbers said Grist reporter Sara van Schagenhe. The most important number turned out to be not the 20 cents nor the number of votes against, but the amount of money spent on the anti-fee campaign by plastic industry lobbyists.

That number is $1.4 million ... or about 7 million disposable bags at two dimes a piece. Enough, apparently, to defeat the measure by a hefty margin with more than half of the (all mail-in) ballots counted.

In comparison, the pro-bag camp raised just $80,000, and they knew they faced a tough fight said Heather Trim of People for Puget Sound and the Green Bag Campaign.

On the bright side, Trim is happy regardless. “We’ve had a huge surge of awareness,” she said. “This is only going to help.”

original article by Sarah Van Schagen.