As I unloaded my groceries onto the conveyor belt, I realized I was buying more than could fit in my reusable bags.

“Can you try to fit everything in these?” I asked, handing over my assortment of canvas totes.

“I can try,” the cashier answered. “But it’s no big deal, I can just use plastic bags for whatever we can’t fit into  the ones you brought.”

“Oh no,” I said. “No plastic bags. Please.”

She stared back at me. She had already stretched out a plastic bag and was ready to load.

“I have this thing,” I told her. “I just really hate plastic bags.”

I wasn’t lying. I really do hate plastic bags, and I was on the last day of my one-week challenge to only use reusable bags for every purchase I made.  I wasn’t going to let the two gallons of milk, a watermelon and a Gatorade six-pack that wouldn’t fit in my totes stop me.

“Just put the stuff that doesn’t fit right into the cart,” I told her.

I made it to the car and my groceries made it to my home without the help of a plastic bag. I learned after going a week without them, shopping bags were simply unnecessary.

I got used to the idea of refusing plastic bags at the grocery store during the year I studied in London. Some stores would charge you if you needed a plastic bag while others would give you credit if you brought your own. And it made sense to bring a sturdier bag since you’d most likely be walking your groceries back home.

Carrying a reusable bag in London was trendy and cool. The U.K. is the birthplace of the ubiquitous “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” tote created by activist organization We Are What We Do, which encourages people to use small, daily actions to change the world.

Reusablebags.com reports an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to more than one million per minute. And the bags that get dumped pollute soil and water sources and are the cause of death for thousands of animals each year. Plastic bags do not biodegrade. They photodegrade, which means they break down into smaller and smaller pieces that contaminate the environment.

And paper bags aren’t much better. Research shows that more greenhouse gases are emitted during the manufacturing and transporting of paper bags than plastic bags. So the best solution is to use a reusable bag.

So the What We Do organization asked British bag guru Anya Hindmarch to create an affordable and environmentally friendly bag people could use instead of plastic or paper bags. And when 20,000 of them were released at 450 supermarkets across England in 2007, women got in line at 2 a.m. and all were sold by 9 a.m. Women in the States had a similar reaction. Within three hours of it being offered for the first time across the U.S., it had sold out of every Anya Hindmarch boutique across the nation.

Berkeley Farmers Markets announced Monday that it will be the first farmers market to eliminate the use of plastic bags and packaging from their three weekly markets. They will be hosting a Zero Waste Event on April 25 from 10 a.m. – 3p.m to kick off the new campaign.

“Berkeley, a city known for its progressive politics, is once again taking the lead by phasing out plastic bags and packaging at its farmers’ markets,” said Ben Feldman, Program Manager of the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets, in a statement. The plastic bags are harmful for the environment and can take up to 400 to 1000 years to break down.  The markets now encourage shoppers to bring their own cloth bags or previously used paper or plastic bags.

As a recommendation from the committee, the farmers will be asked to charge $.25 a bag in hopes of discouraging customers from using them. Vendors at the markets have the opportunity to purchase compostable bags, made from renewable resources from the Ecology Center at half price.

Berkeley is just one of the nations current farmers markets that are considered Zero Waste Zones. The Boulder, Colorado farmer’s market was the first to initiate a Zero Waste Campaign, which focused on not generating waste by reducing and recycling plastic bags and packaging. Monterrey and Irvine, Calif., have started to eliminate plastic bags but not packaging.

For more information about the Berkeley Earth Day celebration check out this website.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

My New Year’s Resolution

Fifteen years ago, the big environmental issue making headlines was whether to use cloth or disposable diapers. We were supposedly going to be buried by the disposables, as they were filling up our landfills so fast that we would soon run out of places to put our trash. To better understand the problem, my co-author, Dr. William Rathje of The Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, was dispatched by a variety of environmental, government and business groups to study the composition of landfills all across America.

What Bill and his associates found was not at all what people expected them to find. Diapers were actually a rather small part of the typical landfill makeup. Also, when all the data on production, transportation, water and energy usage were factored into the equation, the data indicated that disposable diapers might actually produce less environmental impact than cloth ones.

Bill and I argued that the issue was not the diaper itself, but all of the babies being put into them. The diaper was merely a package that contained a human consumption and waste generation machine. As such, the diaper was really a symptom of the true, underlying environmental malady: unsustainable population growth. To reduce diaper consumption and disposal, the better strategy was not to eliminate disposable diapers, but to reduce the rate at which they were being used.

Today, we have an eerily similar scenario. Rather than cloth vs. disposable diapers, the debate is focused on paper vs. plastic bags, with the latter considered to be the wasteful, landfill-clogging choice. Yet, a look at the hard facts once again shows that like disposable diapers, plastic bags are a small part of landfill composition. Further, scientific studies indicate that paper bags actually create up to five times more waste than their plastic counterparts.

Like diapers, bags exist for one reason – to contain items that are both much bigger and potentially much more environmentally detrimental. In fact, life cycle research indicates that up to 99% of the environmental impact of what we buy is caused by the materials and energy needed to produce, transport and store the products that go into the bags, and not from the bags themselves.

Rather than placing environmental blame on plastic bags (or any bags for that matter), let’s all resolve to be more efficient about what we put in those bags. Start by becoming a more efficient consumer: Shop from a list. Buy in bulk when appropriate. Select concentrates. Choose products that come in lightweight packaging. Combine trips to reduce driving, thus cutting gas consumption and greenhouse gas generation.

So, if you really want to use fewer bags, start by using less stuff.

Bob Lilienfeld is editor of The ULS (Use Less Stuff) Report, a newsletter aimed at helping people conserve resources and reduce waste. He is a regular commentator on NPR’s The Environment Report, and co-author of the book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Guess what city just mandated that businesses disclose their toxic chemicals, put a five cent price tag on plastic bags and set up a future ban on the sale of bottled water at city-owned centers as well as plastic take-out food containers?

Portland? San Francisco? They’ve taken some similar measures. But no, the latest municipality to get aggressive with consumer waste is Toronto, Canada’s largest and apparently greenest city.

This week the Toronto City Council set in motion a sweeping effort aimed at reducing the number of plastic disposables – grocery bags, water bottles and take-out cartons – that wind up in the local landfill.

A city news release on the laws outlines when they’ll take effect. The take-out cartons, for instance, won’t vanish for some time. The city has given restaurants until February 2011 to find alternatives, which could be made of biodegradable cardboard or polystyrene compatible with the city’s recycling system.

But the plastic bag fees will begin much sooner, on June 1, 2009, in an effort to push consumers toward reusable bags and totes.

“I’m very proud that Toronto is leading the way. It’s the right thing to do. Waste diversion begins with reduction and Torontonians want to reduce their dependence on disposable products,” said Mayor David Miller in a statement.

Residents have been supportive as Toronto has added several other green measures, said Stuart Green, the mayor’s press secretary. These changes have included a switch to a tiered garbage collection system in which those who generate less trash can use smaller waste bins and pay less, and the addition of organic waste collection, where residents send their compostable table scraps and paper waste in a green bin for curbside pickup.

“Every time we do something, they take it up in droves,” Green said.

By now, most people are familiar with the ubiquitous bright green (and blue and pink) totes that supermarkets are touting to replace hard-to-recycle plastic bags.
Many customers dutifully carry them to and from grocery shopping each week, often receiving 3 to 4 cents in return. But what about those folks who are less conscientious?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City has a solution: charge shoppers six cents for each plastic bag they use. The mayor’s proposal is a work in progress, but environmental groups are pleased.

Isabelle Silverman, an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, says it’s a great way to prod people to remember to bring their cloth bags. “In Switzerland,” she says, “customers are charged 30 cents per (plastic) bag and bag use has been cut down enormously.”

In Ireland, the same thing happened. After charging shoppers 22 cents a bag in 2003, the country saw a 94 percent reduction of plastic bag use. In July 2007, Ireland increased the fee to 32 cents.

Silverman acknowledges that it will take time in United States. “It’s a culture change. All grocery stores are selling the totes.”

Remembering to bring them along is key.

She suggests that instead of the bulky canvas totes, customers might consider nylon bags by Chico which can be thrown into a purse, backpack or briefcase. “That way, if on the way home you need to pick up a few groceries, you’ll have a lightweight, compact tote that is reusable. In Manhattan, or any city where people commute using public transportation, a thin nylon bag would be ideal.”

Other cities also are looking at plastic bag usage.

In March 2007, San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags. According to reports, the city is using 5 million less plastic bags each month.

The Los Angeles City Council voted last summer to ban plastic bags by July 1, 2010. The people of Los Angeles use about 2.3 billion bags a year, with only about 5 percent being recycled.

In Seattle, a 20 cents fee on both plastic and paper bags passed last summer to go into effect in 2009. But this fall, a referendum was launched to halt the process. It is expected to be voted on in the new year, according to Andy Ryan, spokesman for Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). Seattle uses about 360 million disposable bags each year, according to an SPU report. By placing a fee on the bags, that number was projected to be cut in half.

In Dallas, the city is considering a voluntary program to lessen plastic bag usage. “This will be promoted through education and outreach efforts. [But] we are not planning to impose any tax or fees to reduce the usage of plastic shopping bags in Dallas like New York City,” says Meghna Tare, the city’s environmental coordinator.

Boston, Phoenix and Austin are among other cities considering phasing out plastic bags.

The decision to cut back on plastic, as well as paper, bags, is not an easy one for any city. It can aggravate customers and store owners. One mayor, however, cut through the debate to get to the heart of the matter.

“The answer to the question, ‘paper or plastic?’ is neither. The best way to reduce waste is not to create it,” Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this past summer.

Copyright © 2008 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

In another development sure to result in gray hair, if not legal action, for those in the plastics industry, the city of Los Angeles voted this week to ban plastic bags by July of 2010.

The city’s action isn’t a law, though: It will only become one if the state of California fails to adopt a 25-cent fee for plastic bag use that has been proposed but was met with resistence earlier this year. As a result, plastic-bag advocates tell the Los Angeles Times that this week’s vote won’t inspire any additional legal challenge from the industry.

Other cities like San Francisco have taken various kinds of action on retail bag use, from total bans on non-biodegradable plastic to discouraging the use of disposables via taxes. While previous efforts to ban plastic bags outright in L.A. have been abandoned by the city, it seems likely that some action beyond mere volunteer campaigns will eventually be seen: The City Council vote was 13 to 0, and accompanied a measure to eliminate Styrofoam food containers at city events and facilities.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Whole Foods announced today that it will stop making plastic bags available at checkout lines — aiming to use up existing stock quickly enough to be completely plastic-free by Earth Day, April 22.

This announcement, which applies to all 270 Whole Foods stores, follows a test run of the Bring Your Own Bag campaign in the company’s home town, Austin, Texas. During the Austin run, company spokesperson Kate Lowery says that customer response has been overwhelmingly positive. Some reports have recounted anecdotes about exceptions, like a disgruntled customer who liked to use Whole Foods plastic bags for household garbage, but according to Lowery: “The report that I got last night from the leadership at the store — they’re saying it’s all positive.”

The company intends to track the number of customers with reusable bags (since it offers a small discount for every customer-owned bag, tallying the number won’t be too difficult), and Lowery says they’ll be “waiting on those results.” She did offer some early examples of how consumer behavior is shifting toward greener practices:

• In San Francisco, where the city government banned plastic grocery bags, “we know that 20 percent of our shoppers are bringing in their reusables.”
• Today, an Atlanta location found that between opening and 1 pm of the program’s first day, “340 customers used about 1,100 reusable bags.”
• In Austin, “we’ve sold 10,000 of the Better Bags [the 99-cent tote made largely of recycled plastic bottles] in a month.”

Progress is slower on another plastic front — the bags the company (like all major grocery chains) still uses in its bulk, produce, and seafood departments. While Lowery says “we’ve started a task force” on that issue, “to find some eco-friendly options that work well for food safety and freshness,” no candidates have yet emerged. “Efficacy is key,” she says, explaining the difficulty of finding options that meet specialized needs, “but it’s something we’re committed to.”