These days the media are devoting more ink and airtime to a seemingly simple question asked at most grocery store checkout lines: “Paper or plastic?” The answer to this question can have consequences that are not simple or trivial.

A family of four uses nearly 1,500 plastic bags a year. Introduced to the market in 1977, between 500 billion to more than a trillion plastic bags are now used worldwide annually. Yes, there’s an advantage in the lightweight, cheap and convenient plastic bag. But it takes millions of barrels of oil to manufacture them. A finite resource, petroleum is more expensive to find and supplies are more vulnerable to interruption. A paper bag, the traditional alternative, has the advantage of originating from trees, a renewable resource. But some argue that making them produces substantially more water and air pollution than plastic bags.

Although plastic can be recycled and reused, data shows that far too few bags are returned to grocery stores to be transported to recycling and reprocessing centers. According to Worldwatch Institute, “Americans return 0.6 percent of the 100 billion used in a year.” More often than not, paper and plastic are burned in waste-to-energy plants. Others are buried in oxygen-free landfills where they last for generations. Too many plastic bags end up as litter where they cause a serious threat to marine life. Sea turtles, whales and seabirds regularly get entangled in plastic and confuse colorful plastic items with food at their peril. Plastic bag litter also degrades the landscape and clogs drainage pipes.

For these and other reasons dozens of countries and cities around the world now ban plastic shopping bags or charge a fee for use. Look up “ocean plastic” or “plastic bag bans” on the Web to learn more.

As House chair of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, I am familiar with the increasing costs and intensifying controversies that surround waste-to-energy plants and landfill operations. And having sponsored two climate change bills, I also appreciate the immediate need to reduce fossil fuel use, conserve energy, and develop alternatives to petroleum-based plastic. Inspired by efforts elsewhere to transition to reusable bags, I began discussions with representatives of Maine grocery stores to see what it would take to ramp up the “bring your own bags” campaign. This might build upon the initiatives at some stores that already offer a variety of reusable bags for sale, some costing less than a dollar.

About one out of 20 Maine consumers, or about 5 percent, now bring their own shopping bags to the grocery store. Things could change if the public were more aware of the hidden costs of plastic bag use and if supplies of reusable cloth and nylon bags were more readily available. More Maine businesses and nonprofit organizations could join the effort to get more reusable shopping bags in circulation. For example, banks, car dealerships and even newspapers could pitch in. They could distribute reusable shopping bags decorated with their logo to employees, or offer them to customers as a premium for opening an account, buying new tires or renewing a subscription.

I submitted a legislative concept draft, modeled after a successful plastic bag reduction program in Ireland that levied a fee per plastic bag. In my proposal the fee would not go to the state but would instead be used by grocers to subsidize the cost of cloth or biodegradable alternative bags for customers. The legislative request was not approved for consideration for the coming session. So, while echoes of a fee on plastic bags continue to generate pro and con responses, the legislative proposal is history.

What would it take to increase the “bring your own grocery bag” rate to 50 percent by April 22, 2008 – Earth Day? It shouldn’t require an act of Congress or the Legislature. Instead, together we can take this small affirmative step, reach or exceed the goal, and celebrate our accomplishment next spring. The answer to the question, “Paper or plastic?” in the check-out line could be: “No, thanks.”

Rep. Ted Koffman is House chair of the Natural Resources Committee. He lives in Bar Harbor.