HELPING TO STOP PLASTIC AND PAPER BAGS
(Sacramento) A bill by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) to ban single-use carryout bags in California is moving closer to final approval. Assembly Bill 1998 bans all single-use bags sold in supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores and liquor stores. If shoppers forget to bring their re-useable bags, AB 1998 allows them to purchase recycled paper bags, made from 40 percent post-consumer material, for a reasonable cost. “We have achieved an historic agreement on a nearly cost-neutral measure with broad support from environmental groups and businesses,” Assemblywoman Brownley said. She was joined at a capitol news conference to discuss AB 1998 by a trio of actresses/environmental activists Amy Smart, Rosario Dawson and Rachelle LeFevre. Here’s more in this Assembly Access video.
Write your Senator with just a few clicks! http://bit.ly/AB1998Action …OR Call Senators on the fence! http://bit.ly/SenatorsOnTheFenceAB1998
Now is your chance to save your coastlines, save your oceans and save yourself from permanent, toxic, wasteful, polluting bags.
Supported by every major and minor environmental Group, California Grocers Association, and dozens of cities around CA.
AB 1998 will eliminate the distribution of approximately 19 billion plastic bags in California by prohibiting grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores and similar stores from distributing single-use plastic bags for free. AB 1998 will encourage reusable bag use, and also conserve paper resources by requiring retailers sell recycled content paper bags.
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There has been so much hype, people huffing and puffing over this issue. In this post we are going to lay it down and put this to rest – seriously. There are many things we can’t do in the US because they are bad… You can’t drive drunk because you can hurt someone or yourself, if caught you will get your license taken away. Bad actions are regulated and meant to protect you and others. Plastic bags are being used over and over again and not getting recycled. Even worst, some are being tossed out with the trash or on the street! Marine life is suffering, our oceans trashed and the environment is paying the price for our actions… Now it’s time for regulation. We brought this upon ourselves!
Even if 100% of plastic bags are recycled, they still harmful to the environment because of production and the fact that they are made from oil – period. Plastic bags are convenient and free, that’s why we are addicted to them, and it’s going to take more than buying those 99-cent thicker reusable plastic bags sold at Wholefoods and Target to get us out of this mess – but that’s another issue. For now, let’s tackle some of the reasons why we need to ban plastic bags now!
The most common plastic bags you see today are made from polyethylene (even those cheap reusable bags). This material is made from crude oil and natural gas, both non-renewable resources.
“Every time we use a new plastic bag they go and get more petroleum from the Middle East and bring it over in tankers,” said Stephanie Barger, executive director of Earth Resource Foundation in Costa Mesa, California. “We are extracting and destroying the Earth to use a plastic bag for 10 minutes.”
Plastic bags are now ubiquitous in our environment, and animals both on land and in water are being strangled, choked and killed by them. Plastic bags are now the fifth most common debris item found on beaches, according to the Ocean Conservancy, and international coastal cleanups have turned up more than 354,000 stray bags each year.
Meanwhile, Planet Ark, an international environmental group, estimates that, worldwide, 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year.
Despite all the lobbying by the plastics industry to push recycling of plastic bags, the rate is less than 5% in California. Because they are thin and lightweight, recycling plastic bags is difficult and the return on the effort to recycle them is minimal or non-existent. In Los Angeles County, over 90% of the bags collected in municipalities surveyed ended up being shipped to a landfill rather than recycled, due to contamination from food or pet waste, and the tendency of plastic bags to jam recycling machinery.
Plastic bag use is now so prolific around the world that the bags have become a major source of litter. Aside from polluting beaches and waterways, plastic bags blowing around streets in China are so common they’ve earned the name “white pollution.”
Most plastic bags used either end up as litter or in landfills (less than 1 percent are recycled). In a landfill, it’s estimated that one plastic bag takes about 1,000 years to biodegrade. A plastic bag floating around as litter takes about 20 years.
People, people, people… Do you really think any business gives away anything for free? The cost of plastic bags is 3-5 cents buried in the purchase price of your groceries or consumer goods.
Then, there is the clean up cost for plastic bag pollution… One study found that the cost of cleanup amounts to 17 cents a bag, that translates to the average taxpayer paying about $88 per year on plastic bag waste – What a waste!
When it comes to the environment, paper bags aren’t any better than plastic ones. The best bet (for the environment and to save energy) is to use a reusable cloth bag to do your shopping.
Plastic bags pose a suffocation hazard to people, particularly children, and pets. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) receives an average of 25 reports each year in which a child has suffocated from a plastic bag.
Part of the argument is “What about all the plastic bag manufactures that will lose their jobs?’ “We need all the jobs we can get”. This is simply short sighted and old-fashion thinking and frankly it pisses me off.
When is the last time you had a milk man come to your door? It was replaced by an invention called the refrigerator.
When is the last time you made a call and got a switchboard operator?
Remember the video store Blockbuster? Many have closed down in place of streaming videos from Netflix.
Point is – all these industries grew and changed with the times. They were replaced by better more useful products. Why on Earth are we refusing to let the same thing happen to the plastic bag industry and deny Americans green jobs?! It doesn’t make sense! It’s called progress, and it happens to every industry and I’m sure one day it will happen to the reusable bag industry as well.
The reason why this is a big issue is because the plastic bag industry is fighting for NO change. They have been somewhat successful brainwashing and scaring people into thinking they need plastic bags. Don’t be fooled. Take a look at this misleading ad designed to scare you into not supporting the ban. It’s like watching a trailer for a bad scary movie, complete with scary music and scary voice-over guy.
Don’t be intimidated. Take a deep breath, it will be alright. Think long and hard about what is really going on around this issue and make a decision.
Photo: Evolution of the portable music player from 1959-2010
California is working to ban plastic bags! It’s time to come together and say “enough is enough”. Voice your support by calling your local State Representative to encourage them to support AB 1998! www.healthebay.org
Project GreenBag is now a proud member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Single-use plastics and disposable plastics are some of the greatest sources of plastic pollution. Designed to be discarded, these objects offer a small convenience but remain forever. Project GreenBag is happy to announce we have becomes a member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition and pledge to help reduce plastic pollution worldwide.
Manuel Martinez the founder of Project GreenBag says:
“Project GreenBag becoming a member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition is a huge step in the right direction for the environment. There are over 60,000 plastic bags being used this second. In some parts of the ocean there are six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton. They can take from 400 to 1,000 years to decompose but their chemicals residues remain for years after that.
Examine the problem and it’s obvious that something needs to be done about now. I along with Project GreenBag believes in a 100% ban on single use plastic bags. It’s very easy to kick the habit, we just have to set our mind to it. It’s not as simple as buying a low-end reusable bag, those are made from oil and imported thousands of miles which also leave a large footprint. The true path to sustainability is local and organic bags.”
The Mission
The mission of Plastic Pollution Coalition is to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, the environment, and wildlife worldwide. Plastic Pollution Coalition provides a platform for strategic planning and coherent communications; increases awareness and understanding of the problem and sustainable solutions; and empowers action to eliminate the negative impacts of plastics on the environment, wildlife, marine life, and human health. The mission of Plastic Pollution Coalition is to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, the environment, and wildlife worldwide.
Plastic Pollution Coalition provides a platform for strategic planning and coherent communications; increases awareness and understanding of the problem and sustainable solutions; and empowers action to eliminate the negative impacts of plastics on the environment, wildlife, marine life, and human health.
Build Awareness
To bring the issue of plastic pollution to the forefront of the social, scientific, economic, and political debate worldwide.
Build a Global Community
To provide a platform for individuals and institutions to share resources and coordinate efforts, explore synergies and strategize together to reduce plastic pollution, with an emphasis on single-use disposables.
Empower Action
To empower citizens to shift our societies away from the disposable habits that poison our oceans and land, eliminate our consumption of throwaway plastics, and begin embracing a culture of sustainability
Support Legislation
To demand that businesses and governments take responsibility for new ways to design, recover and dispose of plastics.
Educate
To educate citizens about the the threats posed by plastic to their own health and the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants.
Support Scientific Advancement
To promote the study of plastic pollution and possible solutions.
Last year Americans used over 100 billion plastic bags. Help stop them today. Buy a reusable bag. www.ProjectGreenBag.com
The Pacific Garbage Patch has grown to be twice the size of Texas. This is unacceptable. Join SHFT in pushing to ban plastic shopping bags in California. The California State Assembly passed a bill to ban plastic shopping bags on June 2. The bill goes to the senate mid august. Help us become the first state to ban the plastic bag. Click on the link below to sign the petition and we’ll make sure it gets to your senator. www.shft.com/banthebag
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who in May eliminated offshore drilling in California, supports the bag ban, meaning that if the Senate passes the bill, it would almost definitely be signed into law. That would put California, which currently uses 19 billion plastic bags per year, well ahead of the rest of the country in the effort to go green.
So if you live in California, sign a petition to your legislator calling for the bill’s passage. Not a resident? You can still help in the fight against the overuse of plastic bags and the growth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
CBS News reports: A bill passed in the California Assembly aims to ban free, disposable plastic bags from supermarkets by 2012. Bill Whitaker reports.
Notable supporters of Plastic Pollution Coalition speak out in support of the bill AB 1998 Ban the Bag in California.
Includes Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, Fran Drescher, Ed Begley Jr, Louie Psihoyos, JJ Abrams, Captain Charles Moore, Chris Malloy, Keith Malloy, Ditty Bops, Music of Ben Harper. Plastic Pollution Coalition
PSA in support of AB1998 to ban the Bag in California, starring Ed Begley Jr., Kate Connor and featuring the music of the Ditty Bops and Directed by Grant James.
