Mary Whitfill

Features Editor

The Coppell High School environment club ECoppell recently met with the Coppell City Council to inform council members of the mission of the club – to eliminate the use of plastic bags locally and in the Metroplex. At the meeting, the club requested council members to pass legislation that would aid their mission by either banning plastic bags or placing a tax on them.

“The mission of ECoppell is to completely abolish the use of plastic bags in our community,” ECoppell secretary Priya Gupta said. “We plan on doing this by providing citizens, for free, our own reusable cloth bags. ECoppell knows that this is a very ambitious goal, but it can definitely be accomplished with the continual support of the people and the indefatigable spirit to succeed.”

In addition to discussing the possibility of new legislation, ECoppell also informed the council of the impacts of plastic bags on the environment and the importance of cities taking strong stances on the issue. The club informed the council of the steps they have been taking towards encouraging the use of reusable canvas bags for grocery shopping, in replace of standard plastic bags.

“An important step is us giving everybody a free ECoppell branded reusable bag,” ECoppell president Shorjoe Bhattacharya said. “Then banning plastic bags completely at stores so the only way people can get plastic bags is by paying a fee to the stores. Ultimately, cities that mandate that plastic bags be banned will, in our opinion, drive the best compliance and hence people will form better habits.”

In one of the organization’s more recent actions, they have begun to paint parking spaces in the front lot of Kroger with the message

“ECoppell: Use Cloth Bags” in efforts to help citizens remember to use their reusable bags.

“It is essential for us to realize that if we do not force a change in our own behavior, we will fail,” Bhattacharya said. “More than targeting realistic goals, it is important for us to target ambitious goals.”

Since the club’s formation in 2009, the student organization has become one of the largest at CHS with more than 35 dedicated members. ECoppell has made big steps towards reaching their goal, talking to local store managers and engaging in many different fundraising efforts. Local stores Kroger and Ace Hardware have both agreed to let ECoppell handout their own reusable bags out side their stores. They have also raised funds from many different efforts including door-to-door donations, heritage night presentations and an ECoppell night sponsored by Marble Slab Creamery.

ECoppell feels their goal is an achievable one, taking the lead from other large cities across the nation. Both San Jose, Calif. and Maui, Hawaii have banned plastic bags, and Austin has taken the necessary steps towards passing the legislation. Using these cities as a guide, ECoppell members feel that learning from the cities that have made their dream a possibility helps to make their goals realistic.

“The resulting effect [of the meeting] is dependent on the mayor and his council to have a quick and large scale impact,” Bhattacharya said. “However, understanding that there could be certain limitations in rapid implementation it is our objective to continue to create awareness and make this a mass movement that all Coppell citizens believe in and adopt even before a mandate is passed.”