offers organic wheat grass, stations to charge electric vehicles and "sustainable" salmon. But the Southeast Portland store no longer offers plastic bags at checkout.

State Sen.

, D- Beaverton, wants every store in Oregon to do the same.

Hass is spearheading a

, Senate Bill 1009, that is up for a

Tuesday in Salem that would outlaw single-use plastic bags at checkout. Paper bags would remain legal.

His plastic bag indictment: They contribute to litter, are minimally recycled, regularly gum up recycling sorting machines, harm marine life and are made from fossil fuels.

"I don't think people understand the true cost of these bags," Hass said.

Hass's bill – at best a long shot in a short session – would buck a string of victories for the bags that environmentalists love to hate.

And contrary to popular belief, the ecological costs and benefits of paper versus plastic aren't that clear cut.

The

expert on environmental impacts of products says the agency has "reservations" about a plastic bag ban, given the impact of paper bags.

Last week, a California appeals court panel sounded a similar note,

2-1 that Manhattan Beach in Southern California couldn't ban plastic bags without a more thorough environmental review.

Studies indicate "paper bags have greater negative environmental effects as compared to plastic bags," the court majority wrote, including "greater nonrenewable energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste production, and acid rain."

Portland Mayor Sam Adams

he may try again to cut plastic bag use, after dropping a bag fee idea.

The Portland chapter of the

has collected 5,000 signatures asking the city to ban plastic checkout bags as a way to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.

Paper vs. Plastic vs. Reusable

Paper bags:

Include recycled fibers, but take more energy to produce and ship.

Biodegrade, but that can produce methane in landfills.

Cost retailers more than plastic.

Plastic bags:

Take fossil fuel — usually natural gas — to produce.

Are more likely to turn into litter, on land and at sea.

Jam up recycling sorting machines.

Reusable bags:

Cost consumers more.

Aren’t always recyclable.

Are a clear environmental winner — if they’re durable.

Source: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Twelve U.S. cities, with San Francisco in the lead, have banned plastic bags, and Washington, D.C., debuted a nickel fee on single-use bags Jan. 1. Green-minded stores such as Portland-based

and Texas-based

don't offer plastic at checkout.

But Seattle voters shot down a bag fee last year, and the

, backed by bag producers, has scored a series of victories in California. Stephen Joseph, the coalition's attorney, said he's "horrified" that San Francisco is passing out paper instead of plastic.

"The evidence is very strongly in favor of plastic bags being better for the environment," Joseph said.

David Allaway, a DEQ policy analyst, said the environmental impact of bags isn't big enough to obsess over -- especially compared with the environmental costs of the products in the bags.

When Allaway forgets his reusable bags, he chooses plastic and recycles it at the store. If plastic isn't available, he's fine with paper.

"Sweating the small stuff distracts us from paying attention to the bigger stuff," he said.

With paper bags, the biggest environmental challenge is the amount of energy it takes to make them, Allaway said. So banning plastic bags in favor of paper "wouldn't necessarily be a win for the environment in the big picture."

It's true paper bags biodegrade, and most plastic bags don't. Degrading is a plus if a bag is littered, Allaway said, but a pitfall in a landfill, where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas.

The biggest plastic bag drawback: They're littered more often, fly away from landfills and garbage cans and often end up in the ocean, where plastic makes up the vast majority of floating debris. There they fill the gullets of sea turtles that mistake them for jellyfish, entangle sea birds and contribute to the garbage gyre in the North Pacific.

People also put plastic bags in their curbside recycling, though they're not supposed to. The bags regularly jam the recycling sorting machines, sending more recyclables to the garbage pile.

Joe Gilliam, president of the

, said grocers' voluntary efforts have boosted reusable bag use by 400 percent in four years, with about a tenth of customers using them. But the association, which represents large grocers, is wary of a ban. Some customers -- especially those who walk or wait for the bus in the rain -- prefer plastic, he said. Others use them for garbage-can liners, lunch bags and picking up after their dogs.

Melinda Merrill, a Fred Meyer spokeswoman, said grocers also worry about cost, with paper bags three or four times more expensive than plastic. A voluntary marketing push -- and a nickel-a-bag credit for reusable bags -- allowed Fred Meyer to order 14 million fewer plastic bags and 2.2 million fewer paper bags in 2008 than in 2007, when it began offering 99-cent canvas bags.

Hawthorne is the only

store that has gone plastic-free at the checkout aisle. It's in an eco-minded section of Portland, however customers interviewed Sunday weren't wild about a ban.

Lisa Kaskan, a child psychiatrist, sighed when asked about it. She was carrying a paper bag full of groceries -- she'd forgotten her cloth bag.

"Honestly, if (a plastic bag ban) is environmentally best, I think that's fine," she said. "My understanding is paper is marginally better, but neither is great."

Farther east, at the

on Northeast 122nd Avenue, Charlotte Heisler and her daughter bagged most of their groceries in plastic and paper. They hadn't brought enough of their reusable bags.

Heisler doesn't like plastic. She doesn't like bags made of trees, either.

"They should charge a nickel a bag to people who don't use their own bags," she said, "and make the reusable bags out of hemp."

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