It’s rare these days if you're asked if you want paper or plastic bags at the grocery store, but if El Paso city council members get their way, you won't have to answer that question again.   Who would have thought that the way you carry your groceries would become a topic of debate for city council?   The reason being is some council members said plastic bags are at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to recycling.   "Well it was brought to our attention that these bags don't disintegrate, they don't disappear, they stay there forever so the landfill, we're trying to take care of the landfill with anything we can with recyclables," said city representative Alexandro Lozano.   City representative Alexandro Lozano said he'd like to see an alternative to the plastic bag.    "These are harmful to the environment, and we're going to suggest banning these bags totally," said Lozano.   Some El Pasoans don't mind not having a choice and avoid using plastic anyway.   “No it’s, no problem at all, i mean usually when we go get groceries we just take our own canvas bags in, with us," said west El Paso resident Renee Jimenez.   Not everybody agrees with the possibility of a paper mandate, believing city council has bigger issues to tackle.   "So, why don't they try to rearrange the priorities, to what's important and take action to do something that’s important rather than argue back and forth about paper or plastic,” said west El Paso resident Richard Barnett.   So far, similar ordinances have been enacted in San Francisco and Austin and since plastic bags are not part of El Paso's recycling program to begin with, than you could be going green right at the checkout counter.   City council is expected to make a decision in the next year.  

Meantime, Albertson’s grocery store said that by the end of October, they'll be getting re-usable bags, which customers can buy for a dollar.

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