Cities around the world have been adopting various environmentally friendly policies during the past few years. Some cities have moved to make construction sites recycle materials, and still others, such as Chicago, have made a concerted effort to incorporate “green” building principles into their municipally financed structures. This past week, the city of San Francisco continued to consider whether it will recommend a 17-cent fee on each grocery bag, whether they be paper or plastic. The proposal requires an economic impact study and legislative review, so the measure is unlikely to take effect before the year 2006. One city legislator, Ross Mirkarimi, remarked that he hopes that such an effort will encourage consumers to change to using reusable cloth bags or recycled plastic and paper bags. One official from the Society of Plastics Industry was quick to respond, commenting that the figures quoted by San Francisco’s Environment were quite inaccurate. Similar pieces of legislation passed in other places as of late, including Ireland, have met with success. The first site will take visitors to a recent news piece from the San Francisco Chronicle that talks about the situation regarding the proposed piece of legislation. The second piece leads to a first-hand perspective on the benefits of such legislation from Paul Goettlich, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle this past Monday. The third link leads to a news article in the Guardian from last February that describes a new additive that is intended to allow plastic bags to degrade in a few months, rather than the usual few decades. The fourth link leads to the homepage of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, where users can learn about their various innovative programs and initiatives. The fifth link will take users to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recycling page, where they may view facts and figures about recycling in different parts of the country. The final website will take visitors to the clearinghouse for the government of Ireland’s aggressive and rather successful litter prevention and control program.