ST AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- St. Augustine may be the nation's oldest city, but it's the newest town to push plastic bags out of local shops. "We are preserving our past by protecting our future," said Flagler College senior, Jovie Reeves.
City commissioners just approved a voluntary ban on plastic bags. A group of Flagler College students proposed the change, and they will help the stores comply.
"There would be a bag for the Spanish era," said Reeves. "There would be a bag focusing on the rich black history here."
Reeves is the co-president of ENACTUS. They say each store will charge shoppers a small fee for the bags, but she says we all will see the return.
"They just litter our streets and cost the city money to clean out of our storm drains. So they have terrible impacts on the economy and on the environment as well," said Reeves.
"They can have an idea and make it happen," said ENACTUS faculty advisor, Donna DeLorenzo. The group of about 20 students will design the re-usable bags to go along with the city's 450th birthday.
"They are learning how to work with city government. They are learning how to change attitudes and how people think," said DeLorenzo.
It's a change they hope will help take St. Augustine to their 500th birthday and beyond. These students hope to have the bags available in shops by April.
