Denver soon could join a growing list of U.S. cities including Aspen and Boulder that have passed laws to reduce the ubiquitous presence of plastic bags that environmentalists say have become an ecological horror.

Plastic grocery bags, they say, have become a lingering sign of our disposable culture. They flap from trees, swirl around landfills and disable recycling machinery. They float in creeks, rivers and oceans, but environmentalists say the use of disposable bags can easily be reduced with restrictions and laws.

Denver City Councilwoman Debbie Ortega is drafting an ordinance that would impose a 5-cent fee for every plastic or paper bag used in point-of-sale purchases. Her ordinance would use some of the money for an education campaign to promote reusable bags and to provide reusable bags for low-income residents.

“Have you ever been to a landfill and seen the plastic bags everywhere?” Ortega said. “They are not great for the environment.”

Groups, including Denver Public School students, have been lobbying the city for years to ban the bags. Ortega said she is still gathering comments before drafting a bill, which she said could be introduced within the next few months.

Revenue from the 5-cent fee for both paper and plastic bags would be split between the store and city. Two cents would go to the store and 3 cents to the city. The revenue stream is expected to shrink every year as the public’s bag habits change.

More than 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are used in the U.S. each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And a group called Better Bags Colorado estimated that more than 50 million plastic bags are disposed of in Denver each year.

Last year, Boulder’s City Council passed a 10-cent fee on both paper and plastic bags — an ordinance that goes into effect July 1. The ordinance covers “all food stores … that sell a line of staple foodstuffs, meats, produce, dairy products or other perishable items.” It doesn’t apply to restaurants, farmers markets or businesses for which food comprises less than 2 percent of gross sales.

Boulder officials figured their residents use an average of 33.3 million bags a year, or 342 bags per person. The city expects that the fees will generate about $217,000 in the first six months and then decline every year thereafter as the public adjusts its behavior.

Nearly 100 countries, cities and counties have passed regulations against single-use bags, either by banning them or charging a fee for their use to try to change behavior. In the U.S., ordinances have been passed in San Francisco; Seattle; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C.

The nation’s capital has a 5-cent bag fee, and officials report an 80 percent reduction in single-use bags since the fee began in 2010.

Last year, Aspen banned plastic bags at its two grocery stores and began charging a 20-cent fee on paper bags — a law that is being challenged in court by opponents who say that it should have been approved by voters under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Ortega said since Denver’s law would be a fee and not a tax, it wouldn’t require voter approval.

Fort Collins’ City Council last month voted down a 10-cent bag fee, and some believe the effort in Denver is well-intentioned but may not be the right time.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said through spokeswoman Amber Miller that he is willing to consider a bag policy in Denver but believes “it will take considerable work to create a policy that addresses the broad spectrum of residents and businesses.”

Miller said Hancock believes any policy must be created with a “thoughtful approach to the impact on low-income individuals and families … and also we would want to better understand if and how this could put Denver at a competitive disadvantage.”

Ortega said bags would be purchased for low-income families, and people on food stamps would not be subjected to the fee.

Chris Howes, president of the Colorado Retail Council, said the retailers support the bag fee as long as it includes both paper and plastic.

“The fee would be paid by the customers, and if that is what the people in Denver want, so be it,” he said. “The councilwoman is trying to urge people to use reusable bags. And we sell a lot of those. But the bottom line is that it is a fee on customers, not on the stores.”

On Tuesday, shoppers heading into Denver grocery stores stopped to consider a bag fee.

Brad Rutledge, for one, said he would be against any bag fee.

“Utterly absurd,” Rutledge said while shopping at Albertsons off Alameda Avenue and Broadway.

Dan Bell said he understands the concept and its environmental benefits but said he doesn’t know if he would remember to bring reusable bags.

“I always forget them,” Bell said. “But if I had to pay, I guess that would be a good incentive to remember.”

Robyn Moore brought a reusable bag for her trip to the King Soopers off Speer Boulevard. But she bought more than she was expecting to and ended up having to use plastic bags.

“I think everyone should use their own bags, but this will happen, too,” she said as she gestured to her plastic bags. “Maybe it will make people not forget them and bring enough.”

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367, jpmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jpmeyerdpost

Denver Post reporter Ryan Parker contributed to this report.