Nalgene, the brand that popularized water bottles made from hard, clear and nearly unbreakable polycarbonate, will stop using the plastic because of growing concern over one of its ingredients.
ICIS (International Chemical Information Service) 04.23.08
US Senator Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) will propose legislation banning the sale of children’s products and food containers containing bisphenol A (BPA), possibly before the end of the week, the legislator’s office said on Wednesday. As justification for the ban, the senator cited the National Toxicology Program’s draft report, published on 14 April.
Over the last twenty years, scientists have built a mountain of evidence that Bisphenol A, the key ingredient in polycarbonate plastic, should scare the daylights out of us. It should have been banned a long time ago, as a precautionary measure, but regulators were asleep at the switch -- allowing the chemical industry to run roughshod over them.
Washington Post 04.22.08 Many scientists and environmental advocates believe man-made components in plastics -- particularly a group of compounds called phthalates and another hormonally active chemical known as bisphenol A, or BPA -- can leach harmful chemicals that get absorbed into our bodies. The financial stakes are huge: Plastics is the country's third-largest manufacturing industry, employing 1.1 million workers and producing nearly $379 billion worth of goods each year.
Canada's proposed ban on a hormone-like chemical in baby bottles has spurred U.S. retailers and legislators to try to phase out use of the ingredient, called bisphenol A, or BPA. Canada's announcement Friday came just days after the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found "some concern" that low levels of BPA cause changes in behavior and the brain, prostate gland, mammary gland and the age at which girls enter puberty.
Washington Post 04.18.08 Last year, an expert panel using outside scientists minimized the health risks of BPA, but its findings were widely assailed after a congressional investigation found that a firm hired to perform scientific analysis was also working for the chemical industry.
As of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags at checkout. No, paper bags won't replace the plastic bags. Customers will need to bring their own bag, buy an IKEA reusable bag for 59 cents, or go bagless.
A beach that was once a place where Native Hawaiians used to come to find logs for their voyaging canoes, is now a place where tons of trash wind up every year.
The movement to curb plastic bag use and production is gaining in popularity because of cities like San Francisco- the first US city to prohibit large stores from distributing disposable plastic bags. Now the plastics industry is fighting tooth and nail to prevent the trend from spreading across the United States. Many attempts at bans have already been prevented, usually ending up as voluntary recycling drives instead.
Our Take: While recycling has its place, recycling won’t solve the problem… An item that really stood out in this article was the shocking information that an amendment prohibiting local governments from imposing fees on plastic bags was snuck into an otherwise benign mandatory recycling law passed in California. This is a bold move we assume will be overturned at some point …
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?
View Good Morning America Now's segment on BYO-Bag. With a focus on how to remember your reusable shopping bags, many of the samples featured were from our store. Guest Olivia Zaleski "really recommend(s) looking at that website. They have everything for everyone."
A recent study has found that some popular plastic baby bottles are leaching a hormone-disrupting chemical that, when heated, possibly pose a danger to infants. The study, which focused on six major brands of baby bottles sold in the United States and Canada, found that bisphenol A, used to make polycarbonate plastic, was given off by heated bottles in amounts that were within the range shown to cause harm in animal studies.
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.
Reusable grocery bags are popping up at stores all over, and not only in places where you buy groceries. The bags have gotten hipper and more affordable, too, with many retailers introducing totes as low as 99 cents. Today, it’s not so hard to find one on eBay.
That’s why Vincent Cobb, the founder and president of reusablebags.com, is leery about the cheap, reusable bag trend. He started selling reusable shopping bags and baskets online in 2003. “The risk we run into with all these cheap bags is that people are just going to accumulate all these bags in their closet,” he said. “I think the big thing now is for people to find the good ones.”
Newsweek 02.04.08 Many common household products contain compounds that could be affecting our health. The shocking thing is that we really don't know the health effects of many of these chemicals on the market today. Under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, chemicals already in use were grandfathered in without scrutiny. These include the three classes of compounds targeted in a November report released by a coalition of environmental groups, "Is It in Us?"—a plastic strengthener called bisphenol A (BPA), brominated flame retardants known as PBDEs and plastic softeners called phthalates.
Bisphenol A is a basic constituent of the polycarbonate plastics found in many baby bottles, sippy cups and juice bottles. Although the chemical industry and FDA say they are safe, there is evidence to the contrary. Research studies show that low-dose exposures, particularly during gestation, may later lead to breast and prostate cancer, abnormalities in the reproductive tract and behavioral problems, among other things.
Phthalates have also raised concern: these compounds are used to soften the plastics in products such as rubber duckies, vinyl shower curtains, certain medical devices, and are also found in hundreds of personal care products (e.g. fragrances, body lotions, nail polishes and shampoos). Potential problems from exposure include abnormalities to the reproductive tract and a decline in sperm quality.
The flame retardants, PBDEs, are found in fabrics, upholstery, foam mattresses, circuit boards and the casings of computers and televisions and animal studies show they can have negative impacts on learning and memory, sperm counts and thyroid functioning.
Our Take: ReusableBags.com has been providing education, leadership and safe alternatives for the past five years. With more awareness of these issues, we hope to see some real change! A reminder that all the bottles we carry are BPA-free.
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?
New York City is requiring new measures to increase the recyling of plastic shopping bags. China has announced it's banning them. Such measures are making reusable bags a big business. Host Tess Vigeland talks with Vincent Cobb, president of Reusablebags.com.
The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a bill (44 to 2) requiring large stores and retail chains to collect and recycle plastic bags they give to shoppers.
Under the new bill, which had surprising support from Progressive Bag Affiliates, a trade group that represents most American makers of plastic bags, stores that give the bags to customers must provide recycling bins for the bags in a prominent place in the store. They will also have to ensure that the bags they distribute have printed messages urging customers to return them to stores. The legislation applies to stores of 5,000 square feet or larger, as well as all branches of chains with more than five locations in the city.
Our Take: It's no surprise to us that the plastic bag industry supports the bill. It's too bad that New York City's bill misses the mark by focusing on recycling. While helpful it won't fix the problem. This initiative doesn't hit at the heart of the matter which is to significantly reduce consumption (and capture external costs associated with plastic bags). The heart of real reform focuses on implementing tactics such as Ireland's Plastax.
Check out this YouTube video that captures the essence of the mania surrounding last summer's arrival of Anya Hindmarch's much touted "I'm not a Plastic Bag" tote bag. (Great slogan - but a lousy reusable shopping bag.) This 2 minute video tells a simple story of absurdity. The following viewer comment says it all "Wow! It's amazing what we Americans will do..."
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.
Once upon a time, the question was plastic or paper, which had its own somewhat uncertain calculus of virtue and waste. Now, it has begun to dawn on people that you don’t need either. Plastic bags are not the biggest single issue out there, and no expert on global warming would suggest solutions rest wholly with decisions made by individual consumers. On the other hand, it is estimated that the United States goes through 100 billion plastic bags a year, which take an estimated 12 million barrels of oil to produce and last almost forever. And if individual decisions can’t solve the problem, the wrong ones can certainly compound it.
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.
These eco-friendly totes take a load off your mind, arms. If green is the new black, then a reusable tote is the new must-have designer handbag. Of course, the Anya Hindmarch "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" tote is out of the question. Fear not. The reusable-bag movement is in full swing, with options for everyone from trendy fashionistas to serious eco-friendly shoppers."There's a lot more out there than the straight-ahead canvas bag," says Vincent Cobb, founder of reusablebags .com.
There is universal agreement when it comes to features to consider when looking for the right reusable bag: personal style, a wide-enough base, sturdy fabric and an ability to be compactly stored when heading out for a shopping spree. The bags sold by ReusableBags.com are "fully green, all the way down to the ink used to print the slogan," says Cobb.
Our Take: The thrust of the story is practical bags versus fashionista bags - of the hundreds of options of reusable bags out there, the editors endorsed a total of 3, all of which were from our proprietary Acme bags line. Our bags were considered "seriously green" and "perfect for the activist."
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!
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..."
The Progressive Bag Alliance, the California Retailers
Association and the California Grocers Association, announced the
implementation of the nation's first statewide plastic bag recycling program. The
bag manufacturing industry is partnering with the retail community to develop
practical solutions for recycling and have designed a store "toolkit"
to help retailers with public education, employee training and developing
recycling systems.
Our Take: Big surprise here - the plastic bag industry's typical response. Let's just recycle all these plastic bags - that'll fix the problem. Wrong. Don't look to industry for solutions that hit at the heart of the matter which is significant consumption reduction (and taking responsibility for capturing external costs associated with plastic bags).
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.
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."
On July 1, California will become America’s first state to initiate a
mandatory recycling program to cut down on its mounds of plastic bags. Under
the legislation, supermarkets, pharmacies and other major retail outlets must
provide recycling bins to make it easier for customers to recycle their bags.
It doesn’t, however, require consumers to recycle their plastic bags, nor pay
them for recycling.
Our Take: We are sure this mandate by California will make lots of headlines since it makes for a powerful sound bite, but let's be clear -- recycling will not fix this problem. While recycling does have a place in addressing this problem, it needs to be kept in perspective. Plastic bags are a key indicator of society's over-consuming nature and efforts to reduce consumption is where the bulk of our efforts need to be.
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.
Do chemicals in the plastic bottles you use every day make them unsafe? Matt Lauer talks with Dr. Leo Trasande of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. 
Seattlepi.com 06.07.07
