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If Tucsonans don't start using fewer plastic bags, in a few years they might not have any plastic bags to use.

No. We're not going to run out. But if plastic bag usage isn't cut in half in two years, a special city committee recommends they be banned, or that the city take "any and all necessary actions" to force a reduction.

The problem is the 182 million plastic bags a year used here are a litter problem. They also are generally a wasted resource since they are used, on average, 12 minutes before they're discarded and end up decorating a cactus or clogging the landfills and waterways.

But before a ban kicks in, public and retail employees should be subjected to an educational campaign on the best ways to cut their use, like no double-bagging or bagging milk jugs.

Retailers should have to produce quarterly reports tracking progress, the committee recommends.

Tucson City Councilman Paul Cunningham, said this is a fair and equitable solution to keep plastic bags off the cacti and out of the streets.

"We are giving people an option on educating the public on being ecologically friendly and reducing the amount of bags floating around without being too invasive," he said.

The committee of business, environment, and government representatives agreed on that point.

What they couldn't agree upon was what the city should do if retailers don't reduce consumption by 50 percent and increase recycling by 30 percent.

One option, supported mostly by the committee's business interests, allows the city to take whatever additional measures it feels are warranted at the time.

The second option, supported primarily by the committee's environmental interests, forces the city to institute an outright ban.

The City Council will consider the recommendation next month.

Katharine Kent, head of the Small, Minority and Women-Owned Business Commission and committee member, said she was disappointed the committee could only agree on a proposal that has "no teeth" when a survey of Tucsonans showed a majority support harsher measures, like a fee per bag or a ban like other communities have implemented.

"Our community is not asking us to go through an educational program," Kent said. "Our community is asking us to do something significant and reduce these bags."

But committee member Tim McCabe, president of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance, said it's not the government's job to dictate how residents get their groceries home from the store.

"We clearly don't believe that government needs to tell people what to do when it comes to what kind of bags to use," he said. "People think the answer to everything is to ban it. We feel the answer to things like this is to educate the people."

Tucson Metro Chamber President and CEO Mike Varney said he believes the chamber will support the education campaign but doesn't want to see any additional regulations at the behest of special interests.

"While we are in favor of reducing litter overall in the area, we want to avoid adding yet another layer of bureaucracy," Varney said.