JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Beach City Council on Monday evening unanimously voted to pass a plan that could bring the city one step closer to banning plastic bags from the beach.
With the vote, Jacksonville Beach will be added to a list of Florida coastal communities that support state lawmakers passing a bill this session to allow beach towns to create their own rules on plastics bags on the beach.
Right now, coastal communities throughout Florida are not permitted to make their own regulations.
But if the bill is approved, beach towns would be able to come up with individual pilot programs on plastic bags at the beach, and Jacksonville Beach could one day make a ban.
"Basically, all it will do is show our support for legislation in Tallahassee right now that would allow local coastal communities to come up with a pilot program to have an impact on plastic bag usage," Council Member Christine Hoffman explained ahead of Monday's vote.
Hoffman told News4Jax on Sunday that she felt a yes vote Monday would be a step in the right direction for Jacksonville Beach.
"Here in Jacksonville Beach, we really consider ourselves guardians and protectors of our coastline, as well as the other coastal beaches here, and to be able to make an impact on that, whether we can encourage people to reduce usage or anything like that, we can't do that right now," she said.
Most beachgoers said if a ban will help keep the beach clean, they’re in support of it. Plastic bags can be found nearly every single day. They get caught in the dunes, and even worse, they can end up in the ocean.
"I like that you can go play in the sand and in the water, and especially when the sun sets, you get to see the beautiful sun and sky," Layla Tamayo said.
Tamayo and her family find happiness at Jacksonville Beach. Her father, Andrew Tamayo, said he teaches his children about the importance of a clean Earth.
"Even just walking down the beach, walking along the edge -- if we see something, (we) will pick it up and throw it away, because I want to teach them good habits," Andrew Tamayo said.
He said if it would help keep litter off the beach he would be in support of Jacksonville Beach one day banning plastic bags from the beach.
Andrew Tamayo said if it keeps the beach clean, he’ll support it.
"I think it could be a positive," he said. "It would maybe hurt some of the responsible people, but it feels like there's a little bit less responsible people."