Village of Solomon renews efforts to ban plastic bags

Just as a push to ban single-use plastic bags in Nome was being discussed at the Nome Common Council again, COVID-19 hit the U.S. The City of Nome instead had to consider ways to keep its citizens safe as the pandemic unfolded and efforts to reduce plastic pollution fell by the wayside. But now Deilah Johnson is ready to pick it back up. As environmental coordinator for the Village of Solomon, she is hoping Nome’s youth can help breathe some life back into the campaign.

“I think involving the youth and giving them that task is where it’s all going to start to really take that momentum back,” Johnson said.

Johnson has launched a competition for young people to submit a research presentation on “Reducing, Reusing, Refusing and Recycling specific to the Bering Strait Region, the impacts of climate change and how these 4 R’s play a role in subsistence lifestyles.” The deadline for submissions is April 10. All who submit will present their projects at a public Earth Day event in Nome. The winner will get a two-month paid internship with the Village of Solomon, and Johnson hopes that this intern can help spearhead the renewed campaign against single-use plastic bags.

In February of 2020, the Nome Common Council had considered a proposal put together by Johnson asking the City to issue an ordinance eliminating plastic bags. Several council members seemed receptive to the idea. Though at the time the council agreed to hold another work session on the topic, Johnson said the issue has not been revisited.

Johnson said that Nome has been “behind the times” as far as education on practices around reducing, reusing and recycling. Eight states have now banned plastic bags—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Vermont and Oregon. Though Alaska is not on that list, several municipalities in the state have introduced their own bans, including Hooper Bay, Unalaska, Seward, Homer, Wasilla, Palmer, Bethel, Kodiak, Unalakleet, Brevig Mission, St. Michael, Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Johnson said that when she first launched the campaign a few years ago, she fielded negative comments and hesitation from people who argued in favor of the convenience of the plastic bag. Such a change would mean they would have to clean a reusable tote and remember to bring it into the grocery store. But Johnson argues that adopting single-use plastic bags was itself a lifestyle change that people had to learn when plastics were introduced in the 20th century; she is hoping those who still feel resistant to the idea can learn something new. “Why can’t we learn something about the health in our environment?” she said.

Other efforts to improve Nome’s environmental practices are also underway. During a recent council meeting, Kawerak Environmental Program Director Anahma Shannon made the case for Nome to build a proper recycling center facility. Kawerak commissioned a feasibility study that offered different designs for an enclosed facility outfitted with a baler to compress recyclables into cubes that can be easier stored and transported. Kawerak currently recycles e-Waste products, lead-acid batteries, dry cell batteries, fluorescent lamps and toner cartridges, while the City of Nome collects aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars for recycling. But Shannon said a proper facility could help Nome expand its recycling program to include consumer plastics, cardboard, paper products, tin cans and compost. The council determined that Shannon and the city manager should continue to work on the concept.