Vail Daily 04.05.08 Will “paper or plastic?” soon follow “smoking or non-smoking?” onto the list of once-ubiquitous, now-obsolete questions? Could be if others follow the lead of Durango Natural Foods, which earlier this month announced that, starting in May, it will phase out plastic bags and charge 20 cents for paper bags. Durango supermarkets trying to get customers to bring their own bags…
Across the globe politicians and corporations are debating the effectiveness of plastic bag bans versus plastic bag taxes. Ireland, Italy and Belgium all tax plastic sacks, while places like San Francisco and China are banning them all together. Other countries and companies are implementing or considering recycling programs. Each attempt to deal with the issue has its pros and cons. According to Vincent Cobb, founder of ReusableBags.com, the movement has gained momentum. “We all have the tendency to buy too much stuff, and I think the symbolic nature is what has made this such a powerful thing.”
Our Take: Our founder was interviewed for this article – here is a quote: “A tax charged at checkout is what we need to change consumer behavior. Plastic bags aren’t inherently bad; it’s the mindlessness and volume of consumption.”
Using Ireland’s successful plastic bag tax as a model, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing a 20 cent “green fee” on all disposable bags. The proposed fee is the first of its kind in the nation made by a mayor striving for a legacy of environmental stewardship. If the City Council approves, the fee would go into effect January 1. In an effort to ease the transition, the city will mail one reusable shopping bag to each household.
Our Take: Kudos to Mayor Nickels! This is big news – we’ve been laying down the challenge to US politicians for several years to take the bold move and implement a Plastax modeled initiative. (For the record San Francisco did attempt a “loosely” based model in 2005 which failed.) With Ireland’s disposable-bag use down 90 percent, Seattle is on the right track. Plastic industry interests will work hard to derail this since in all likelihood it will start a trend…it will be interesting to see what happens. What do you think?
Hear from ReusableBags.com Founder, Vincent Cobb, who discusses how Ireland's Plastax (which helped reduce consumption of plastic bags in Ireland by 90%) inspired him.
The Plastax "is the wave of what's going to happen next"
Hear from ReusableBags.com Founder, Vincent Cobb, who speaks about plastic bags as a symbol of society's overconsumption, as well as their environmental impacts.
"Now you have ReusableBags.com, a site that sells a variety of bags designed with functionality and even fashion in mind."
Prime Minister Gordon
Brown today signalled that he will use the law to stop supermarkets giving away
free plastic bags within the next 12 months. Supermarkets that do not
voluntarily start charging customers for plastic bags are expected to be
compelled to impose a levy of at least 5p a bag. Ministers could impose the new
regime using amendments to the climate change bill, which is currently going
through parliament. Brown made his pledge as the
Guardian revealed that government departments handed out nearly one million
branded plastic bags themselves, mostly in connection with publicity campaigns.
Los Angeles County supervisors backed off a threat Tuesday to ban plastic shopping and grocery bags. Instead, officials chose the weakest of five alternatives recommended by county executives: a volunteer program that leaves it to supermarket and store owners to coax customers into packing their purchases in reusable containers.
The action was a scale-back from a year ago, when supervisors ordered county lawyers to look into drafting a ban on non-recyclable bags altogether, much as San Francisco did. The 90-day study stretched into nine months, as grocers and retailers weighed in - the California Grocers Association, which represents 500 retailers in California and Nevada, had even hired a lobbying firm.
Indeed, with county executives prepared to seek only the voluntary measure, a last-minute amendment was offered and the final product approved by supervisors: A ban would be adopted only if the use of bags in unincorporated Los Angeles County did not decrease at least 30% by July 2010 and at least 65% by July 2013.
New York Times 02.02.08 & International Herald Tribune 01.31.08
In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags...Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Drowning in a sea of plastic bags, countries from China to Australia, cities from San Francisco to New York have in the past year adopted a flurry of laws and regulations to address the problem, so far with mixed success.
After five years of the plastic bag tax, Ireland has changed the image of cloth bags, a feat advocates hope to achieve in the United States. Vincent Cobb, the president of reusablebags.com, who founded the company four years ago to promote the issue, said: “Using cloth bags has been seen as an extreme act of a crazed environmentalist. We want it to be seen as something a smart, progressive person would carry.”
Comment: Ireland has paved the way. What other countries, cities or states will step up, find the political will and follow suit?
In Illinois, members of a recycling task force are brainstorming ways to reduce plastic bag waste but an outright ban on the petroleum-based bags is not likely.
However, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Plastic Bag Recycling Act, calling for a voluntary, two-year pilot program in Lake County to determine the cost to retailers who implement plastic bag recycling programs.
But some, like Vincent Cobb, are inspired by Ireland's "Plastax" example and think it could be implemented in the United States. "Retailers were resisting it initially, but at the end of the day they’re going to save a heck of a lot of money," said Cobb, who founded Chicago-based Reusablebags.com, which sells its own line of reusable shopping bags.
Our Take: Measures like this highlight the 2 extremes - on one side is a complete ban of plastic bags, which puts retailers on the defensive, and on the other is a mandate to recycle bags, which does nothing to curb consumption. We're interested in the middle ground, and advocate reusable bags which both curb consumption and limit the use of plastic bags.
For organic grocery store Whole Foods, the difference between them and the competition is in the bag. The national supermarket chain, including its two Tempe locations, will stop using plastic grocery bags starting Earth Day, April 22.
Plastic bag bans are gaining momentum in New York, China and Australia according to the advocacy site and online store reusablebags.com. Ireland began taxing the bags in 2002, leading to a 90 percent drop in the bags' use.
Plastic shopping bags, your day is done. That's the overwhelming sentiment lately as retail businesses and lawmakers take strides to eliminate the eco-hazardous items from store inventories.
Here's the 411 on why plastic bags harm the environment, according to Reusablebags.com, a Chicago company that sells, well, reusable bags: Plastic bags, which are made from petroleum by-products, aren't biodegradable. They slowly break down into tiny toxic bits, contaminating soil and waterways and eventually find their way into the food chain when animals unknowingly ingest them.
The Whole Foods Market chain announced that it would stop offering plastic grocery bags, giving customers instead a choice between recycled paper or reusable bags. Test runs in San Francisco, Austin, TX, and Toronto went well enough that Whole Foods executives felt confident broadening the plastic bag ban to all its stores. It will take effect by April 22, Earth Day.
Our Take: Are bans the right incentive to reduce consumption of plastic bags? What do you think?
Written by Brian A. Joyce, a Milton Democrat, represents the Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth District in the Massachusetts Senate. The Commonwealth has designated Wednesday as "Reusable Bag Day." Retailers across the state will encourage customers to consider bringing in their own bags or purchasing a reuseable bag. The event is modeled after Hong Kong's "No Plastic Bag Day" and Singapore's "Bring Your Own Bag Day," which resulted in drastic drops in the consumption of one-time bag use.
The days of the plastic bag are numbered, with the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, likely to impose either a levy on each bag handed to shoppers, or to ban them outright within 12 months. Garrett has confirmed he will move to phase out bags "by the end of the year", after consulting state governments in March.
After the plastic water bottle,you
couldn't do much better than the plastic shopping bag as a symbol of American
consumerism run amok. We go through 380 billion a year. An estimated 5.2% get
recycled; in landfills, they could last 1,000 years. Bags are made from oil,
and our bag habit costs us 1.6 billion gallons each year. That last statistic,
and its link to global warming, is starting to drive change.
See how four high-profile programs rate: Walmart,
Target, Whole Foods and Ikea.
China is banning free plastic shopping bags and calling for a return to the cloth bags of old. The ban takes effect June 1 and eliminates the flimsiest bags and forces stores to charge for others, making China the latest nation to target plastic bags in a bid to cut waste and conserve resources.
Businesses will be prohibited from manufacturing, selling or using bags less than 0.025 mm thick, though more durable plastic bags will still be permitted for sale.
The order continues a years-old campaign against plastic waste, or "white pollution," that initially targeted the plastic foam lunch boxes whose decaying shells were once ubiquitous in China.
Our Take: Our congrats to China for really targeting consumption and aiming to reduce plastic bag waste by encouraging reusable shopping bags and charging for plastic bags.
Plastic, once hailed as a modern-day wonder, has faced increasing scrutiny over its impact on the environment. The estimates of how many plastic bags used annually vary wildly from 500 billion to anywhere up to 1 trillion. Even taking the more conservative estimate of 500 billion still roughly translates as 1 million every minute, according to Reusablebags.com.
According to Fast Company, in any given week in the United States, 1 billion bottles of water are being moved around the country, with Americans consuming 50 billion bottles each year. Of that, a whopping 38 billion of them are being sent to landfills, while on a daily basis 60 million just get chucked away.
The conclusion that more people appear to be coming to as the best choice for the future of plastic is one of two options: reuse or stop production at source.
Several U.S cities may follow San Francisco's lead in the effort to ban plastic bags at large grocery and pharmacies checkout counters. The show talked about some of the economic, environmental, and logistical challenges of cutting back on the use of plastic bags.
Guests included: Sam Shropshire, Alderman / Ward 7 Annapolis, Maryland Donna Dempsey, spokesperson, Progressive Bag Alliance Jon Coifman, Natural Resources Defense Council Barry F. Share, VP Public Affairs, Giant Food
The debate over paper vs plastic may soon be settled in Annapolis, Maryland, where a bill aimed at protecting marine life would ban plastic bags from all retail stores. Stores would be required to offer paper bags made from recycled material under the bill, which goes to a final City Council vote in October.
Lucky opened its first of 72 new stores in San Francisco this week and will introduce reusable, recyclable plastic handle grocery bags, which are made from recycled plastic. The bags will retail for 25 cents each and will soon be available at all Lucky stores.
Our Take: With the popularity for reusable bags rising, we'll start to see more greenwashing by the retail industry. These reusable bags are actually produced by a plastic bag manufacturer, and made of only 20% recycled material. For some higher quality recycled bags, check out our recycled PET totes, made from 98% post-consumer recycled content!
London shops could be banned from handing out plastic bags under a new law intended to make the capital more environmentally friendly. Council leaders have suggested an outright ban on the bags, or the introduction of a 10p levy, in a bid to reduce the waste going into landfill. The measures, proposed by the capital's 33 councils in a new London local authorities bill, will be put before MPs in November.
Uganda joins the growing number of East African countries which have banned the plastic bag in an attempt to clean up cities and prevent environmental damage. Currently, only a small number of the bags end up in city dumps. Instead, once discarded, they are blown in the wind, washed into drains and water courses and eventually ground into the earth. Uganda is blessed with some of the richest soil in Africa, but around the towns and villages it is laced with plastic. The government announced that from July 1 the manufacture, import and use of plastic bags thinner than 30 microns will be banned. All other polythene will be subject to a 120% tax.
The Oakland City Council on Tuesday banned plastic bags in an effort to reduce the amount of waste Oakland sends to landfills and to prevent the plastic bags from polluting the environment. The ordinance encourages people to bring their reusable totes to bag their groceries because of the devastating impact the plastic products can have after being used once and tossed away.
"It'll make a real difference," Councilmember Jean Quan (Montclair-Laurel) said. The ban will apply to stores with gross annual sales of more than $1 million, which would include all supermarkets and chain drug stores.
Paper shopping bags are the latest casualty at Macy's stores.
Sales associates have been told to use plastic rather than the ostensibly classier paper bags with handles, which cost more to produce.
"Seeing your bags flapping in the trees is one of the worst things you can do today to affect a brand," said Vincent Cobb, founder and president of Reusablebags.com. He said grocers and convenience stores - not department stores - are the worst offenders.
To environmentalists, the paper vs. plastic discussion is irrelevant. Americans use too many disposable bags, period. True, plastic bags do not biodegrade, while paper does. But when you factor in the trees used to make heavier paper bags, plus the manufacturing and distribution, it's a wash, Cobb said.
"The ecological footprint of plastic isn't any worse than paper..."
Two weeks after becoming the first town in Europe to ban plastic bags from its shops, an extraordinary transformation has taken place in the south Devon community. Carrying a plastic bag has become antisocial behaviour.
Wicker baskets, rucksacks and reusable bags of every shape and size swing from the arms of shoppers in the bustling town of 1,500 people. But if you're spotted with a plastic one you risk becoming a social pariah.
Plastic bags of nearly every size and color known for carrying groceries, fast food and sometimes beer may become a thing of the past if Mr. Shropshire, D-Ward 7, has his way. He plans to introduce a bill to the City Council this summer prohibiting the distribution of plastic bags, with fines as high as $500 for violators.
Mr. Shropshire is calling for only recyclable paper bags or reusable bags to be used in an effort to help save the environment.
The move would put Annapolis on par with other cities that earlier this year banned plastic bags.
As Kenya chokes from an environmental crisis caused by plastic waste, efforts to battle the catastrophe over the years have come to naught.
Conservationists are blaming two culprits: The public, which has refused to shift from plastic shopping bags to environment-friendly ones, and manufacturers, who are frustrating clean-up efforts. Africa 2007
Nobel laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai, has been at the forefront in pleading with Kenyans to stop using plastic bags. She wants shoppers to carry kiondos, but they continue to use plastic bags with abandon.
An effort to curb the amount of waste being dumped in landfills and gunking up the environment includes the possibility of banning foam containers used for restaurant to-go food. A ban on the ubiquitous plastic grocery bags is also on the table.
"It's a major sustainability issue," Seattle City Councilman Richard Conlin said. "How do we change our philosophical approach that waste is not something that is thrown out, but something that is integrated, the way nature does it?"
In case you’ve missed the growing anti-bag movement, which focuses on
non-biodegradable plastic bags but also takes a swipe at paper, you
should know that there are now two Americas. One is full of people
clicking onto websites such as 1bagatatime.com and reusablebags.com
and learning that non-biodegradable plastic bags not only choke turtles
and whales but also take 1,000 years to decompose in landfills,
contribute to global warming, and, because they’re made of
polyethylene, increase our dependency on foreign oil. The other is
inhabited by those who think no purchase is too small or lightweight
(e.g. chewing gum) to warrant bagging.
A measure to ban plastic bags from grocery stores and other large
retailers in Oakland was unanimously passed by a key City Council committee
Tuesday.
The measure, which is very similar to a ban adopted in San Francisco, will
be sent on to the full council next week and if approved will take effect in
August.
Under the measure sponsored by Councilwomen Nancy Nadel and Jean Quan, any
retailer grossing more than $1 million a year would be banned from using the
nonbiodegradable plastic bags. Nadel said that 10 percent of petroleum is used
to create plastic so that reducing the use of bags will help the environment in
multiple ways.
"Californians use 19 billion plastic disposable bags each year, and throw
away 600 every second," Nadel said. "These bags are made from oil, so reducing
their use will serve the mission of the 'Oil Independent Oakland by 2020' "
task force established last year.
Hear Howard Stern's comments on plastic bags upon San Francisco's announcement to be the first US city to ban plastic grocery bags:
"In this country, there are so many (plastic) bags. We bag everything - we bag our bags, we have bags for our bags. It is outrageous. All this plastic has nowhere to go, it's tremendous waste amount of garbage, and it's a completely wasteful things all these plastic bags."
Shoppers and retailers are being encouraged to join a campaign for the UK's first plastic-bag free
Christmas. Promoted by the non-profit group that was also the force behind
designer Anya Hindmarch's sell-out "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" shopping
bag, they say that plastic bag carrying should be as unacceptable as wearing
fur. Shops will display logos saying "Plastic Ain't My Bag" while consumers will be encouraged to use reusable, eco-friendly bags.
Our Take: While "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" is a great slogan, the bag produced is not a very practical reusable shopping bag. "Plastic Ain't My Bag" is another great slogan - we hope it makes it onto a more practical shopping tote. Similar to the shopping totes that carry our "Plastic Bags Blow" slogan.
For "green" shoppers, the right answer to "paper or plastic?" is now "neither." A pillar of the modern shopping world -- the bag, and the plastic bag
in particular -- is under intense pressure nowadays. Using bags
responsibly or getting rid of them entirely has become a new benchmark
for green shopping.
Our Take: This article details the rise of the reusable shopping bag, "the trendiest choice in carryalls at the moment." Our own ReusableBags.com garnered a mention.
Hong Kong's government may be urged to impose a levy on plastic bag use to save the
city from plastic bag landfills as there are over 8 billion plastic
shopping bags disposed yearly, according to the figure released May 21
by the environmental department. In a paper tabled to lawmakers May 21, the Hong Kong Environmental
Protection Department urged the legislative to agree to impose a levy
to cut plastic bag use, adding a 50-cent levy could cut plastic bag use
in Hong Kong by one billion.
Two city aldermen in New Haven, Connecticut, are proposing a new ordinance that would eliminate
the option of choosing paper or plastic bags at the grocery checkout
counter.
In Marin County, California, officials are hoping to eradicate the
use of plastic bags and they want
residents to
voluntarily change their habits before moving to enact a ban. Supervisor Charles McGlashan said the county
needs to educate residents to change their minds about the way they
carry their groceries. The County's strategy includes providing education and information, phasing out plastic bags, and encouraging businesses to promote the use of reusable bags. For example, Mill Valley-based Mollie Stone's Markets is planning a giveaway of 10,000 reusable
bags at their Greenbrae and Sausalito stores this summer.
Ontario's government has struck a deal with industry leaders to markedly reduce the number of plastic bags distributed in Ontario over the next five years. The pact includes commitments to a goal to reduce the use of
plastic bags by 50% in five years; consideration of in-store and Blue Box recycling programs for Ontario stores and consumer education initiatives to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of bags already in circulation. The program also includes annual monitoring and reporting to ensure progress is made.
“It’s very encouraging that industry is ready and
willing to take on this challenge publicly and work with us to dramatically reduce, re-use and recycle more in Ontario,” said Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten. “Ontarians use almost 80 plastic bags per second – that’s close to seven million bags every day. Reducing the volume of
plastic bags that end up in landfills is a top priority for us,” she added.
Should plastic bags be banned altogether, should we be
charged for them, or should we find better things to worry about? Have your say, and
read what others have commented, on the BBC News interactive show.
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."
Seattlepi.com 06.07.07
BBC News 06.13.07
Shoppers and retailers are being encouraged to join a campaign for the UK's first plastic-bag free
Christmas. Promoted by the non-profit group that was also the force behind
designer Anya Hindmarch's sell-out "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" shopping
bag, they say that plastic bag carrying should be as unacceptable as wearing
fur. Shops will display logos saying "Plastic Ain't My Bag" while consumers will be encouraged to use reusable, eco-friendly bags.