Stevens Point Mayor’s Challenge: Residents Give Up Plastic Bags For 1 Month

The mayor of Stevens Point is challenging the city’s residents to voluntarily give up plastic grocery bags for the month of March, and is asking the state Legislature to not take away local control of the items.

Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza said plastic bags are an unsightly mess every year when the snow melts.

“We see a lot of these plastic, film-type shopping bags in spring laying on the side of the roads and flying around on trees and stuck on fences,” he said. “It occurred to me that this might be something we could address.”

Wiza is critical of the state Assembly for passing a bill that would take away the ability of local cities to regulate the bags.

“The state needs to keep their fingers out of my business,” he said. “From a mayor’s standpoint, any time you take away local control, you can potentially create all kinds of problems.”

Wiza said Portage County has trouble recycling plastic bags so they end up in the landfill.

Assembly bill 730 prohibits cities, villages, towns and counties from regulating “the use, disposition or sale” of bags, cups, bottles “or other packing.” It was passed last month by a 63-35 vote.

The bill is now before the state Senate.