A contest that challenged residents in the mountain towns of Aspen and Telluride to reduce disposable plastic bag use ended over Labor Day weekend, and Telluride emerged the victor by a slim margin.

Telluride residents used 29,351 reusable bags during the Telluride Reusable Bag Challenge, which ran from May 24-Sept. 1. Aspen residents used 26,793 reusable bags in that same time period.

“Both communities should be proud of their effort,” said Nathan Ratledge of the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, one of the contest sponsors, in a press release. “Although, our hats go off to Telluride for their success. They did an outstanding job.”

CORE and the Sheep Mountain Alliance of Telluride estimate that one reusable bag equates to roughly 2.5 plastic grocery bags. Given that estimate, the two towns eliminated more than 140,000 plastic bags from being used.

The contest also raised $2,800 for local environmental projects, and have spurred inquiries from other communities that would like to run similar competitions.

Both organizations are also moving forward with related projects to further address the consumption of single use, disposable shopping bags. CORE is working with Aspen High School’s Earth Club to create a unique, reusable bag that will be made available in area hotels this winter. The goal of the students’ initiative is to engage and inform Aspen’s large tourist and visitor community.

CORE and SMA are also pursuing other long-term solutions, including the possibility of a city ordinance. CORE is hosting an online feedback page on its Web site (www.aspencore.org [1]) and encourages all who are interested to contribute their opinions.