Newsroom blog
|
|
« March 2007 |
Main
| May 2007 »
Mirror.co.uk
A MARKET town is banning all plastic bags from tomorrow.
In
a trailblazing move shoppers in Modbury, Devon, will be provided with
biodegradable cornstarch bags, recyclable paper bags or reusable cotton
and jute bags. The scheme - believed to be the first of its kind in
Europe - is being joined by all the town's 43 traders - from family
shops to the local supermarket.
It
is the brainchild of wildlife camerawoman Rebecca Hosking who was moved
to tears by the disastrous impact of plastic rubbish on marine life
when filming in Hawaii. Rebecca, 33, who lives in Modbury, which has a
1,500 population, said: "What I witnessed was so heartbreaking and
unnecessary."
Link: British Town Bans Plastic Bags.
The Boston Globe
The Boston City Council wants to ban the use of plastic shopping bags
at supermarkets, pharmacies, and convenience stores in the city, saying
the ubiquitous bags are a hazard to the environment and a maddening
blight of the landscape.
"They end up everywhere," said Councilor Robert Consalvo . "They blow
in trees, they're floating in Boston Harbor . . . They're an
environmental nightmare. We need to rid our city of these plastic bags."
A measure sponsored by Consalvo and endorsed by nine of the council's
12 sitting members seeks a ban on disposable plastic bags at large
retail stores...
Link: Plastic bags may be banned in Boston.
Cohasset Mariner ...in the Pacific Ocean there is an area the
approximate size of Texas that is a nearly solid mass — an island -- of
plastic bag debris. I tried to visualize this. It seemed so absurd that
I started to doubt the facts of the article. I did my own research and
found out that, sadly, this is all true. In fact there is an
organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, whose work has shown that this plastic island has 1,000,000
times more toxins than surrounding seawaters, and six times as much
plastic per weight of water than zooplankton. And their most recent
expedition uncovered that the acreage of this area is expanding rapidly...
Link: COLUMN: It’s time to stop using plastic bags.
Chicago Tribune
...Worldwatch Institute estimated that in 2002, factories cranked out 4
trillion to 5 trillion plastic bags that were used in supermarkets, department
stores, convenience stores and drugstores. Each year, it's estimated that
Americans discard nearly 100 billion plastic bags; only 0.6 percent of them
are recycled...
the virtues of plastic are overriden by its vices. Most
significantly, plastic bags are gas guzzlers. According to Worldwatch
Institute, 430,000 gallons of oil are required to produce 100 million plastic
bags...
Link: Paper or plastic? To save planet, it's a no-brainer.
Yakima Herald
...Plastic grocery sacks [are everywhere] except where they're supposed to be: in the recycling bin.
"They're a huge cause of litter, a very messy problem," says Mikal Heintz with the Yakima County's solid waste division.
Most grocery stores in Yakima have receptacles near their front doors for customers to recycle their used plastic bags.
Yet, we're not. Americans recycle less than 1 percent of the grocery bags leaving the store.
According to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research
agency, Americans throw away 100 billion polyethylene (plastic grocery
sacks) every year...
Link: Plastic Bags fill trash despite recycling available.
The Ithaca Journal
How often do you hear a supermarket cashier ask, “Paper or plastic?”
In recent years, that question has more or less gone by the wayside. For the most part, checkers automatically pack groceries in the less expensive plastic unless directed by customers to do otherwise...
B.Y.O. Bag is the greener grocer's new rallying cry, as many supermarkets have started selling inexpensive, reusable plastic bags (in addition to longstanding canvas and cloth bags) in an effort to reduce plastic waste.
What's fueling this sea change toward conservation? Just gaze along litter-strewn roadsides, in wind-swept alley corners or up in tree branches...
“The worst spot we see in the city is the (one-acre) rose garden at Maplewood. Just this spring we had 2,000 plastic bags stuck on the thorns,” notes Jim Farr, Rochester's assistant director of recreation...
Link: Grocery Stores Asking Shoppers to Bring Their Own Bags.
North Bay Nugget
North Bay council is encouraging residents to help protect the environment and extend the life of the landfill by using fewer plastic bags.
Council, after much debate, adopted a motion tabled Monday by Coun.
Chris Mayne congratulating the Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids as the first Canadian municipality to ban plastic shopping bags and encouraging local residents to use reusable carrying bags and boxes when possible...
Link: Leaf Rapids first Canadian municipality to ban plastic shopping bags.
PRW.com
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s will stop giving out disposable carrier bags on 27 April as part of an initiative to encourage positive action by its customers.
Instead, all stores that day will give customers free reusable bags, the so-called “bags for life” made from thicker plastic material and usually sold for 10 pence each. Sainsbury’s expects to give out 7 million such bags during the day.
The company said it is “urging customers to keep and reuse the bags on future shopping trips thereby reducing the amount of disposable carrier bags in the future”.
Sainsbury's customer director, Gwyn Burr, said: “We want to make it as simple as we can for our millions of customers and thousands of colleagues to take action now. Customers often want to do their bit, whether that's to recycle more, or cut down on carrier bags, but don't often know where to start.”
Sainsbury’s is one of the retailers that signed a voluntary agreement with the UK government in January to reduce the overall environmental impact of carrier bags by 25% by the end of 2008...
Link: UK Supermarket Chain To Hand Out 7 Million Reusable Bags.
China NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: Singapore's first Bring Your Own Bag Day on Wednesday managed to save an estimated 100,000 plastic bags.
According to leading supermarket chains NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, they cut the number of plastic bags by up to 60 per cent.
They also sold about 20,000 reusable bags.
At one Cold Storage outlet, most shoppers say they do not mind if they have to donate 10 cents to environmental projects for every plastic bag they take...
Link: 100,000 plastic bags saved on Bring Your Own Bag Day.
Santa Cruz Sentinel.com
Taking a cue from their neighbors to the north, city leaders are
considering banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by
supermarkets, drug stores and other large retailers as early as this
summer.
Santa Cruz's ordinance would be modeled after one passed last month in
San Francisco, which became the first major city in the country to ban
the petroleum-based sacks blamed for littering streets and choking
marine life...
"There's a real interest in the City Council to becoming as sustainable
as possible," said Mary Arman, operations manager for Public Works.
Link: Santa Cruz considering plastic bag ban.
Statesman.com
Paper or plastic? Austinites may not hear that question as frequently
when they shop if the City Council moves forward on plans to limit or
ban plastic bags in stores.
The council on Thursday will discuss passing a resolution to find ways
to limit the use of plastic bags by large stores. If the resolution
passes, city administrators would have 90 days to analyze strategies,
said City Council Member Lee Leffingwell...
Plastic bags are nonbiodegradable and often end up in landfills or
clogging sewers, Leffingwell said. At least 1,000 tons of plastic bags
end up in the Austin landfill each year, he estimated using San
Francisco's figures. That city sends 1,400 tons of plastic bags to its
landfill annually. Plus, it takes 430,000 gallons of crude oil to make
100 million plastic bags, said Leffingwell, using figures from the
Worldwatch Institute.
Link: Austin may limit use of plastic shopping bags.
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles County officials agreed today to consider a range of
options -- including an outright ban -- for dealing with the ubiquitous
plastic grocery bags that can litter roadways, clog storm drains and
kill marine life.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously directed the Department of Public Works to study the issue and report back in 90 days.
Link: L.A. county considers banning plastic bags.
Reuse Your Bags
Paper or plastic? Neither -- bring a reusable bag. According to 'An Inconvienent Truth,' it takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags Americans use each year. In addition, about 15 million trees are cut down to produce paper for paper bags. Help reduce oil consumption and save trees by bringing your own bag on your next trip to the store.
Link: Top Tips to Stop Global Warming
CBC News
The northern Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids became the first municipality in Canada to ban plastic shopping bags on April 2, 2007.
"Everybody's on board," Mayor Ed Cherrier said. "Our Co-op store and
Fields, they're really supporting our initiative. And in fact, our
Co-op store has offered a challenge to all of Federated to go bag-free
across Canada."
Link: Canadian Town Bans Plastic Bags.
The New York Times
By a 10-1 Board of Supervisors’ vote, San Francisco became the first
major American city to ban the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by
supermarkets, drug stores and other large retailers. Yet another alternative is to sell consumers reusable bags...
“The paper versus plastics question takes us off the issue, which
is consumption,” says Vincent Cobb, who offers reusable bags and
containers on the Internet. “Getting into the habit of bringing your
own shopping bag,” he says, “can slash this problem across the board.”
Link: Taking Aim at All Those Plastic Bags.
|
ReusableBags.com endorsed in Al Gore’s book on global warming. Read
more...
| Are you a member of the media? |
|
Click here to access our online press materials.
Press Releases
Company Facts
Top Facts
Media Coverage
Plastic Bag Background Summary
|
