Posted on 01/26/2008 11:53:56 AM PST by JACKRUSSELL
Eradicating those unsightly plastic bags that hang in trees and clog landfills may not be in the bag just yet but the idea is reaching a fever pitch in Canada and around the world.
On Tuesday, Whole Foods Market, the world's largest natural-food retailer, announced it would stop giving out disposable plastic bags at the checkout counters. All of the retailer's 270 U.S., Canadian and U.K. stores aim to be free of bags by Earth Day on April 22 of this year. And earlier this month China launched a countrywide ban barring shop owners to hand out single-use bags.
Slowly ideas are changing about the need for plastic bags. But could they go the way of the VCR or at the very least become taboo like cigarettes?
"There is a shift in perception," says Tracey Saxby, a 30-year-old environmentalist who lives half of the year in Rossland, B.C., and the other half in Whistler, B.C. "We just don't need them."
Saxby, an Australian native, was one of the first people in North America to champion a ban in her adopted home of Rossland.
About 10 years ago, the budding environmentalist worked in a retail store in Australia, where incidentally the federal environment minister is currently seeking to ban all ultra-thin plastic bags by the end of the year.
She said she would question why she had to give customers a bag even for the tiniest item. It was then on a trip to Coles Bay in Tasmania that she became really passionate about doing something about the problem.
"It was really cool what was happening there because it's such a tourist attraction and all of these thousands of tourists who came to see the national park were also witnessing a town without plastic bags and really seeing it work, she said by phone from her family home in Brisbane.
The village of Coles Bay, which attracts about 25,000 tourists a year, became the first community in Australia to ban the bags in 2003. The move was copied by dozens more communities in Australia and across the globe.
So Saxby brought the idea home. She took the idea to city council last year in Rossland.
"I said Rossland, let's do this and the whole town got excited," she said. "There was an overwhelming fervour."
The town vied to be the first town in North America to go bag free, but that honour landed in the lap of the small community of Leaf Rapids, Man., on April 2, 2007. With just over 500 residents, city officials handed out more than 5,000 free cloth bags. Leaf Rapids is about 980 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
San Francisco became the first U.S. city to adopt a ban in March after efforts to impose a tax failed, while New Jersey is seeking to be the first state to phase out bags after government implemented a bill in November.
Large global cities are also jumping on board. London's 33 municipal authorities are pushing for an outright ban on plastic bags, and city council in New York trying to pass laws to bar the so-called white pollution.
"It's happening everywhere now," says Saxby, "Vancouver, Toronto, Whistler - all these places are looking at options and are committed to reducing or eliminating them. Reusable bags are everywhere."
The idea is gaining worldwide momentum. There are now restrictions or bans in Ireland, Taiwan, Kenya, Uganda, Zanzibar and South Africa, among others.
The chief administrator in Leaf Rapids, Martin Van Osch, says the whole community is willing to use the cloth bags to do their shopping. Local businesses could be fined $1,000 for ignoring the ban, but no fines have been levied.
"It's a good thing because people are learning that plastic bags are not free. There's a price," says Saxby.
It's estimated that plastic bags take about 1,000 years to break-down in the environment.
The tricky part of the equation for many Canadians is the perennial question: plastic or paper? But environmentalists say using paper isn't the answer either. Opponents say they use too many trees, create more greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing and take up more space in landfills.
Environmentalists argue that consumers must look at other options.
"We wouldn't oppose a ban, but we currently propose a tax," said the leader of Canada's national Green Party Elizabeth May, noting a federal ban is highly unlikely in Canada.
"We need to convince consumers that, on so many levels, these are not essential products," she says. "It's a created false need."
Saxby agrees. "It was only in the '70s that we even started to use these plastic bags."
Tips to reduce plastic bag use:
Buy cloth shopping bags available at most grocery stores.
If you are only buying a couple of items, consider carrying them.
Consolidate purchases into one bag.
Place fruit and veggies directly into your basket.
Purchase lightweight mesh or cotton fruit and veggie bags to use for little things like peas or beans.
Avoid double bagging.
If an item already has a handle don't put it in another bag.
Ask the store for produce boxes that you can re-use and then recycle.
On a bike? Take a back-pack with you.
What can I use as a garbage bag?
Compost organic material. Recycle as much as possible. Rinse your bin and reuse.
Re-use newspaper to line your garbage bin: Save a few sheets of newspaper each week to wrap your rubbish or line your garbage bin. This helps minimize mess and is a good alternative to plastic garbage bin liners.
Purchase biodegradable bags. While biodegradable bags are not the solution (we need to reduce our waste first!) they are a compromise if you feel you do need to line your bin.
What can I use to pick up dog poop?
Re-use plastic bags that you get as packaging. For example, bread bags, or paper mushroom bags.
Buy a dog-composting unit that you can install in a corner of your yard.
Ask your local pet store to order a dog composting unit for you.
This is just more stupidity on the part of the left.
I worked for a division of Amoco Chemical in the late ‘80s. Amoco Foam Products supplied the foam clam shelll containers to McDonalds and was getting a lot of pressure from McDonalds, the federal government and enviormentalists (the tree huggers at EDF) to eliminate the use of foam packaging. “FOAM DOESNT’ BREAK DOWN IN LANDFILLS”
McDonalds made the decision to switch from foam packaging to wrapping their sandwiches. A big deal was made of the switch and Geo HW Bush made a rose garden presentation to McDonalds honoring their enviornmental efforts.
The wraps that are use-are coated paper. The paper CAN NOT be recycled paper-government regulation prohibits packaging food in recycled paper. So the base paper has to be virgin paper. AS noted the paper is coated, and like polystyrene foam, coated paper does not break down in a
a landfill. And unlike foam packaging, coated paper wrappers CAN NOT be recycled. In addition it takes about three times a much energy to make coated paper packaging as it does to make foam packaging.
Sure. Great. But what if you're walking your dog around the neighborhood? How do you pick it up and carry it home? In a kleenex? I have a big dog.
Mr. Ditter actually did this and I thought their head would explode before they figured out he was teasing. They realized he was not serious but they still didn’t think it was funny because somewhere once a baby seal did get clubbed and you shouldn’t joke about things like that.
That’s where your bread bag would come in. I don’t walk my dogs, they get their exercise chasing squirrels and rabbits in the back yard.
LOL!
How about those reusable, washable, eco-friendly cloth bags?
Just remember to wash them thoroughly before putting your groceries in them.
“How do you pick it up and carry it home? In a kleenex? I have a big dog.”
Two kleenex? You could always let him poop in the neighbors yard and let them worry about it. Thats what my neighbors do.
I have never seen a plastic bag in a tree.
Oh, ick. :)
But you have to walk your dogs to get YOUR exercise... unless you join them in chasing squirrels and rabbits.
LOL....you live in TEXAS!!! IN Washington, the STATE....we have LOTS of trees.....and lots of bags in them, and in shrubs, etc. but, I think it’s more an issue of idiots who are pigs.
Great idea.
After I put my dog in it, I won't have a poop picking up problem.
Just how long does it take for your dog to turn into compost???
[; )
What is a "newspaper?"
Based on the title, I thought it was going to be an article about middle aged women who have lots of surgical body work done.
ex=Vancouverite here, now living/working in Hollywood.
Dont mind the Vancouver Sun. It’s the only leading paper in the most liberal city in Canadastan...and thank God, Im not living there anymore.
Let’s eliminate all carpet made from petroleum: nylon, olefin, and polyester. Let’s make a law that all carpet will be made from wool. Yes, that wool from furry little sheep! That’s the ticket!
The very first time I ever saw these bags was in Chinatown in NYC back in the 70s. Produce markets were using them.
Yes you are right. I do play soccer in the yard with the little Jack Russell and I climb stairs but I still need more.
They should put all the unused bags over their heads.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.