Q1 Check the box that best describes where you live.

Q1 Check the box that best describes where you live. Answered: 108 Skipped: 0 Bucoda Lacey Olympia Rainier Rochester 108 Tenino Tumwater Yelm Unincorporate d Thurston County I do not live in Thurston County 0 30 60 90 120 150 1 / 8

Q2 Please rate the following statements: Answered: 107 Skipped: 1 Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree N/A Total Average Rating I always recycle my plastic grocery bags. 43.40% 46 31.13% 33 12.26% 13 8.49% 9 1.89% 2 2.83% 3 106 1.91 I am concerned about the amount of litter and trash plastic bags create. 53.85% 56 25% 26 15.38% 16 1.92% 2 3.85% 4 0% 0 104 1.77 I always use reusable bags when I shop. 15.38% 16 19.23% 20 33.65% 35 20.19% 21 10.58% 11 0.96% 1 104 2.91 Making plastic bags uses too many resources. 34.31% 35 24.51% 25 27.45% 28 3.92% 4 6.86% 7 2.94% 3 102 2.22 I always reuse my plastic bags for other purposes, like picking up pet waste or lining my trash can. 61.17% 63 24.27% 25 5.83% 6 2.91% 3 2.91% 3 2.91% 3 103 1.58 I am concerned about marine animals and birds being injured or killed by plastic bags. 61.17% 63 21.36% 22 9.71% 10 1.94% 2 4.85% 5 0.97% 1 103 1.67 2 / 8

Q3 Are plastic bags recyclable in your curbside recycle cart? Answered: 104 Skipped: 4 Yes No I don't know 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Answer Choices Yes No I don't know Responses 14.42% 15 43.27% 45 42.31% 44 Total 104 3 / 8

Q4 The average American uses 350-500 plastic shopping bags each year. How many of these actually get recycled? Answered: 105 Skipped: 3 5% 35% 65% 95% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Answer Choices 5% 35% 65% 95% Responses 64.76% 68 23.81% 25 6.67% 7 4.76% 5 Total 105 4 / 8

Q5 Would you support an ordinance in Thurston County that bans plastic "check-out" bags in retail stores and allows stores to charge a fee for paper bags? Answered: 107 Skipped: 1 Yes No Maybe - I need more information 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Answer Choices Yes No Maybe - I need more information Responses 41.12% 44 36.45% 39 22.43% 24 Total 107 5 / 8

Q6 We would like to know your thoughts about plastic bag use in Thurston County! (ex: What do you like about plastic bags? How can we increase bag recycling? What are some arguments for or against a ban on plastic bags?) Answered: 52 Skipped: 56 # Responses Date 1 Plastic bags and bottles should be banned. 10/12/2012 2:48 PM 2 I'd support a tax on plastic bags-enought to cause stores to offer a 5 cent rebate to customers for reusing 10/5/2012 1:22 PM bags. then when the bags are worn and torn, the DEQ could have a $100,000 sweepstates, with 20 broken bags turned intor recycling to enter. 3 Lets just stop using them, it may take time to adjust but we will get used to it...americans fear change! 9/19/2012 1:23 PM 4 So many people can't afford reusable shopping bags, to discontinue use. Maybe help them get them started, 9/18/2012 11:34 AM or make recycling more readily availabe! 5 1, Plastic bags don't leak & fall apart like paper. 2. I don't know. 3. More people will use reusuable bags if 9/12/2012 3:12 PM plastic bags are banned. 6 People have a choice, let them decide for themselves. 9/11/2012 3:36 PM 7 Waste of my tax dollars to spend time and money on this when there are many more pressing issues, such 9/10/2012 10:06 AM as over-regulation and jobs needed. 8 I don't like plastic bags. No more plastic bags. Plastic bags riun our ecosystem 8/24/2012 3:24 PM 9 Build something with recycled bags to show the public exactly what can be done with the bags versus just 8/22/2012 3:57 PM throwing them away. 10 Use paper bags with no charge 8/15/2012 6:21 AM 11 Recycle at curbside. 8/7/2012 3:03 PM 12 I do not have a problem using and recycling my plastic bags. Just ban the use of plastic shopping bags and go 8/6/2012 7:26 PM back to basics. I do not have a problem with going back to just brown paper bags and cloth shopping bags. I DO have a problem with charging to use brown paper bags. What did/do stores do now? Are we charged for using their bags? Have you considered curbside "recycling" of bags? Doing the same thing we do now when we take them to the store to recycle - shopping bags within one bag for pickup - no loose bags or the offender gets fined. May sound harsh, but if paying for shopping bags at stores is draconian, then the next logical step is fines. Thank you for letting me vent. 13 Petroleum in any form is bad. 8/2/2012 12:06 PM 14 Require stores that use plastic bags, to also have recycling bins for the bags. 8/1/2012 4:01 PM 15 It's not hard to get into the habit of bringing your own bag to the store. I actually just carry a little bag in my 7/31/2012 12:06 PM purse with me, so that if I stop by the store on my way home, I'm prepared. Let's ban those suckers! 16 I honestly think banning them would not be a bad idea. I would definitely remember to use my reusable bags 7/29/2012 9:00 PM if there were no other free option to fall back on. 17 Need more places to recycle. 7/26/2012 11:33 AM 18 Need more places tor recycle. 7/26/2012 11:20 AM 19 Time to move on. Beyond plastic. 7/23/2012 2:17 PM 20 It would help if plastic bags were collected at Sargent Road waste location. 7/18/2012 1:12 PM 21 Hard to figure out at this time. 7/16/2012 1:24 PM 22 We recycle but it gets cluttered waiting to take them back to a store. 7/16/2012 7:39 AM 23 I line to reuse them for things around the house and for my car! 7/12/2012 3:13 PM 24 I would like to see curbside pick up at my house. 7/12/2012 3:06 PM 25 Make them stronger and more people would reuse them for other purposes. 7/12/2012 3:05 PM 26 Plastic bags if recycable woube great! Paper bags I use for newspaper and such! 7/12/2012 3:04 PM 27 I like to use them as garbage liners. Some of the bags are getting to be weak. 7/12/2012 3:00 PM 6 / 8

28 Reusable bags can be breeding grounds for bacteria. Plastic bags have a ton of other uses in the home after 7/9/2012 2:03 PM being used as grocery bags. A curbside recycle of plastic bags would be extremely helpful in getting people to actually recycle them. Let US decide if we want to use these bags or not. Government has no place telling us what kind of grocery bag we can or cannot use. Let the grocery store owners decide how they want to conduct their business. If they want to attract people who don't like plastic they can implement their own plan by not using them themselves. 29 Plastic bags are horrible to our health and environment, I strongly think we should put a ban or fees to be 6/20/2012 3:10 PM charged for using plastic bags!!! 30 Why are only plastic shopping bags being targeted? Plastic bags are also provided in the produce and meat 6/19/2012 9:25 AM aisles of the food market. Would those plastic bags be banned too? How will produce and meat prevent moisture from getting on reusable grocery bags and causing mold? Will prepackaged plastic containers for foods and liquids be eliminated too? Plastic is so entwined in our everyday shopping that there is no clear answer what to do with plastic. Why aren't plastic drink bottles being banned too? 31 People that live in Olympia do not have to pay for Recycle service or yard waste removal but I live in Thurston 6/15/2012 10:03 PM (same county) and have to pay to recycle and dont even have option for yard waste removal, I suggest update the system so more people will even recycle at all...people wont pay to recycle and we shouldn't have. 32 I sue them for trash liners in my wastebaskets, to carry items when I take the kids for walks, we reuse them 6/14/2012 9:06 AM until they are ragged. I think this is a non-issue that wastes resources better spent on real problems like math labs and funding for education. 33 Just ban them. 6/11/2012 10:00 PM 34 They are more sanitary than reusable bags. That is why there was an infectious disease causing many 6/5/2012 8:57 PM people getting ill at an event in Everett. Not everyone can afford to purchase and wash and disinfect recyclable bags. These are very hard times for most families. My family is living on a budget of less than $200. a month. We recycle and reuse all our plastic including bags. 35 Don't take up much space. Make bag recycling more accessible. Worried about cost for fixed/low income -- 6/5/2012 4:39 PM just adds to food costs. 36 We are shipping our plastic bags over seas because the recycling of these are too stinky and messy for the 6/5/2012 12:32 AM USA. In the mean time recycle places overseas are shutting down, so even through you increase recycling there is no where to send them to recycle them. Save the world and ban them! 37 we regularly reuse plastic bags after shopping. I feel reusable bags are a big pain in the butt. we already 5/28/2012 9:43 PM have enough to remember to bring to the store for our kids without worrying about bags. as far as a ban is concerned I don't feel it is the governments place to tell us what we can and can't be provided from the store of our choice. If people are so concerned about the bag waste then recycling should be made available curbside county wide. and the idea of charging an extra fee for bags is just stupid. most of the people in this area are having a hard enough time paying for groceries let alone the bags to hold them. instead of worrying about this stupid issue why not worry more about reducing regulations on business so that they can afford to employ more people and fix this messed up economy. 38 Against ban: Plastic grocery bags don't leak in pairs-- pet waste. Aren't most ''cloth'' permanent bags made 5/26/2012 4:10 PM of plastic? - Nylon &/or polyester? Pro Ban: people really don't recycle plastic bags. I have seen them rolling for mules like the Southwest's ''Tumblin' Tumbleweeds''. After floods, I've seen trees flappingly festooned with bags... for years! This is not good for the population, for fish, wet and wetland animals, or for tourism. And I have seen a cat caught in one, terrified, urinating, racing in circles, and crying piteously. Considering our area has raised generations as loggers,we might get some money back to the State. So, to ban them, let's try mass education on TV, radio, Iphone & I pads, posters in hamburger joints. Also on androids, clothes and food stores first for 3 months. Tell people three times in one ad. Then a month's warning with tickets and ticket signs like the seatbelt signs, an then if no change, ban the bags! And fine the bag tossers even on their own property! 39 I like the handles, but they need double bagging, which is a concern. I reuse my bags for a variety of things. If 5/22/2012 9:11 AM you are going to replace it with something else, don't charge, people are tapped out 40 My main argument about the ban is that I believe companies should be able to make that choice on their 5/18/2012 10:55 AM own. 41 I use reusable shopping bags, but need plastic bags for over my raw meat purchases, multiple fruit and 5/17/2012 10:15 AM veggies, so use those bags to scoop my litter boxes. I feel we have too much "big brother" out there and feel most people try to recycle and conserve. A law against plastic bags is too much. Instead, reward shoppers with a bag credit for any reusable bags, not just the store brand bag. Also, charging a dollar or $1.99, for a bag, makes them more affordable, rather than $3.99, on up. 42 I do not like plastic bags, I never have. I think they should go back to paper or reusable 5/16/2012 4:50 PM 43 We need to go back to basics. "Progress" is killing this country. Ban plastic bags completely. 5/16/2012 4:30 PM 44 I don't want my choices limited by bureacratic commands or governmental laws. There's too much of this 5/15/2012 9:34 AM going on!!! I say, let's go back to paper bags and put some loggers back to work! At the very least, I want a choice of paper or plastic at the check out stand! NO BANNING OF PLASTIC BAGS!!! 45 +convenience, availability, can be reused, an option for recycling other plastic products -which we have too 5/15/2012 6:58 AM much of... -people who don't reuse them, or leave them around so they become floating litter... These litterers are always a problem... I have troubles remembering to put my reusable shopping bags back in the car... Or they are in the other car... How about a shopping bag exchange program? Leave your extras at 7 / 8

your favorite store for others who forgot theirs to use. (I have lots, just forget them and so revert to plastic a lot) I would often rather have my groceries packed in boxes, so use that option at grocery outlet or Costco. Another reuse-able option... 46 I would recycle 99% of my plastic bags if they could be put into curbside pickup. I'd rather use paper bags, 5/15/2012 6:39 AM but not for a fee. 47 Plastic bags are convenient when you forget your reusable bag. I always recycle my plastic bags, but many 5/14/2012 11:22 PM times the recycle box is full. I would support a ban if paper bags were provided at no cost-as in the past. Paper is safer to make and easier to recycle. The companies making plastic bottles and bags is what needs to be changed! Consumers use them because of convenience. 48 Charging a fee at the store is just another taxation without representation. 5/14/2012 2:22 PM 49 I don't like plastic bags, and I don't like when you get them at the grocery store they usually only put a few 5/14/2012 10:08 AM items in so you have so many bags. 50 Have more recycling containers available or locations where we can donate them for use, i.e., salvation 5/7/2012 4:40 PM army, food bank??? 51 Banning plastic bags will not solve the problem of needing more recycling awareness, nor will it stop the 5/5/2012 9:55 AM degredation of the environment. It is simply one more regulation placed upon citizens and a form of revenue causing an already hurting economy to pay for reusable and/or paper bags. Do not forget that the factories that manufacture these bags employ human beings, there are consequences to banning them; just as there are consequences to using them. 52 I have a lot to say about plastic bags. First of all, I want to make one thing clear: we should start using paper 5/2/2012 3:22 PM bags made from 100% recycled paper. The plastic bags that Americans have come to know are suffocating Mother Nature. Plastic bags stay in landfills for decades, centuries, even, when discarded. Only a small amount of them actually gets recycled. Plastic bags can make their way out to the ocean, and can potentially kill marine life. Thousands of birds die each year by mistaking plastic bags for food. Plus, the factories that make plastic bags are harming the environment, too. Producing plastic bags requires millions of gallons of petroleum that could be used for transportation or heating. Paper bags may be heavier than plastic bags, but they are recycled more easily. Also, they make good fire starter. Unlike plastic bags, paper bags don't release harmful fumes when burned. That is all I have to say. I hope that this can add to your list of reasons to ban plastic bags. 8 / 8