Examiner article here.

After a decade of working to rid their city of those awful plastic bags, San Francisco has finally passed an ordinance that will remove them from every large market and drugstore in town. This is the equivalent of taking MANY MILLIONS of plastic bags out of the waste stream and out of the San Francisco bay. Some key stats on plastic bags:

∑ Number of plastic shopping bags used each year, in the US: 110 BILLION

∑ Barrels of oil required for US annual plastic bag consumption: 12 MILLION

∑ Number of marine animals killed each year due to plastic bags: 100,000

∑ Average number of pieces of plastic in each square mile of ocean: 46,000

∑ Average length of time a plastic bag is used: 45 minutes

∑ Length of time for a plastic bag to degrade: 1000 years

∑ Nationally only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are recycled

This is a big, big step forward. I’m working on having a similar ban enacted in my small town, which is located just 70 miles north of San Francisco. Three other cities nearby have expressed interest in following suit, if we take the lead. This means, of course, that YOU should consider leading a similar charge in your town. If you need help, or ideas on how to get organized, don’t hesitate to contact me.

A small note about the article linked above. In it, Craig Noble, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says “it would be disappointing if grocers rejected the biodegradable plastic bag option, since more trees would have to be cut down if paper bag use increases.” I have to cry bullshit on this, Craig. The corn-based “bio”-bags on the market are largely made of GMO corn, and as such constitute a huge potential problem. Additionally, these bags still take centuries to break down in a landfill setting, providing no immediate relief to our overburdened landfills. In short, the endorsement of these bags is merely trading one set of problems for another. Big thanks to my friend Dan Imhoff, one of the world’s leading experts on environmental product design and packaging issues, for helping me understand the risk posed by these ‘alternative’ bags.

Today, we must doff our hats and toss them in the air, shouting “HOORAH FOR SAN FRANCISCO! HOORAH FOR MAYOR NEWSOM!”

Then we can put our caps back on and feel truly embarrassed for yelling such nonsense.

Who else digs the Australian NO PLASTIC BAG logo (above?). Crazy Aussies have already banned the bags.

Today’s song? PLASTIC SUN by Sonic Youth. Rock it: [audio:sonicyouth.mp3]

Tags: commerce, environment, news

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