Stop endless voting on bags

After reading the article in Monday’s Times regarding the City Council thinking about banning plastic bags, here’s a novel idea: How about a law stating that any subject voted on by the public, regardless of the vote, may not be brought forth or broached again for a period of five years? [“Plastic-bag ban may be on the way,” page one, Nov. 14.]

Hopefully this will eliminate the merry-go-round of voting on a subject year after year until a party gets the results they want, i.e. Costco and the liquor laws, government and plastic bags, etc.

— Gordon Knuth, Seattle

Bags threaten wildlife in Puget Sound

All Seattleites have, at one time or another, enjoyed a dazzlingly beautiful view of Puget Sound. The view from within the Sound, however, is not so clear, due to generations’ worth of plastic trash.

Banning plastic bags in Seattle will greatly reduce the amount of cast-away waste that ends up in our waterways every year, threatening the wildlife dwelling within — our fish, birds and sea turtles, and the many species of mammals that rely on clean water for survival.

Plastic litter affects every level of the food chain, and we humans at the top aren’t impervious. Step up, Seattle! Ban the bag!

— Miranda Bailey, Seattle

Keep the Emerald City green

Last year I read your article about the dead gray whale found with 20 plastic grocery bags in its stomach. [“What whale’s stomach says about Puget Sound’s trash,” NWWednesday, April 21, 2010.]

Tragically, this happened a year after the plastics industry lobby bought a vote to overturn an ordinance against plastic bags here in Seattle.

Portland has an ordinance in effect, and it’s not even near the ocean. Why can’t we, the Emerald City, continue to be a leader for the environment in our region?

With all of Puget Sound’s orca families recently placed back on the endangered list, it’s time join Bellingham and Edmonds in protecting our Sound and all its wildlife.

— Connor Lee, Seattle