Banning Plastic ...

[Jolie Rouge]

Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores
Wed Jul 23, 8:18 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.

The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.

After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.

The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.

San Francisco, 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of here, also in California, in 2007 became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores.

Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.

Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080723/ts_alt_afp/usenvironmentpollutionplasticbags;_ylt=AiTae2E_hu3 EQe6DpX.OsF1H2ocA


all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.

Since the average paper bag cost is about .05 to .03, to charge the customer .25 is certainly punative.

[IthinkNOT!]

I wish they would start doing that here. I have reusable bags, and always have good intentions on using them, but keep forgetting to take them with me. If I had to pay for a bag when I went shopping, it would help me to remember to take my own.

[Jolie Rouge]

That is called "Freedom of Choice". Here is an idea. Most markets here sell the cloth and canvas totes for about a dollar. Every time you forget your bags at home buy a new set... then you will have plenty.

I don't think the Giverment needs to shove this down people's throats. I use my plastic grocery sacks as liners for small cans in each room - without the bags I would have to purchase commercial plastic liners ... more plastic.. more packaging... more shipping costs ... more WASTE.

Reduce - Reuse - Recyle

[IthinkNOT!]

good point, I hadn't thought of it that way...

[Jolie Rouge]

They are worried about the plastic grocery bags being trashed - litter or in the landfill. Offer a refund/recyle ( say .02 a bag ) to customers who reuse their bags or bring them in to be recycled ( the stores here have bins in the front for "old" bags. I know a thrift store that gives you "credit" if you bring in your old bags for them to use so that they do not have to purchase bags for the store.... a lot of my grocery sacks go to them.

There are a number of creative ways to address the problem without resorting to legislation and "Big Nanny" goverment.

[PrincessArky]

That is called "Freedom of Choice". Here is an idea. Most markets here sell the cloth and canvas totes for about a dollar. Every time you forget your bags at home buy a new set... then you will have plenty.

I don't think the Giverment needs to shove this down people's throats. I use my plastic grocery sacks as liners for small cans in each room - without the bags I would have to purchase commercial plastic liners ... more plastic.. more packaging... more shipping costs ... more WASTE.

Reduce - Reuse - Recyle

Do you then put all the small bags into one big bag?

[Jolie Rouge]

Do you then put all the small bags into one big bag?

Nope, tie a knot in each one and they go in the 96 gallon monster trashcan that sits at the end of the drive on trash day.


Our scouts make these from grocery bags ...


Recycled Tote
We rescued some really cool punched vinyl from the landfill. Use it to weave a tote from recycled plastic bags to take with you the next time you go shopping. Makes a great beach bag too!

2 Yards Punched Vinyl
Assorted Plastic Bags
Scissors

Instructions:

If using standard size supermarket bags you will need about 16 bags.
Cut off the bag handles. Cut down one side and across the bottom.
Cut 36 long strips about 4" x 24". Cut punched vinyl into four 18" strips.
Overlap two pieces together lining up two rows of holes.
Weave cut plastic strips in and out the length of the punched plastic starting with the overlapped rows. Continue until you have woven the hole piece. Repeat to make the other side of the tote. Lay the two sides together. Tie sides in double knots. Trim. Cut 24 pieces of plastic to 4" x 6". Tie a piece through the each set of holes along the bottom. Double knotting and trimming. To make handles, cut 6 long strips of plastics about 4" x 24". Use them to make two braids, tying the ends into holes in the top as shown in photo in the link...

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/images/recycle_tote.jpg

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/recycle_tote.htm


Woven Placemats
These placemats take a bit of work of work but come out really nice.

Weaving Loops ( cut bags into loops )
Weaving Loom
Needle and Thread

Instructions:

Stretch loops across the loom, filling all the pegs. The cross weaving is done by pushing the supplied hook through the loops under and then over each set of loops, hooking over the peg at each end.

To finish the edges, begin at one corner and slip several loops off the pegs, slip loop two through loop one, then loop three through loop two, then loop four through loop three. Continue all around, tying off the last loop with the first loop.

Make six squares. Stitch together using a needle and thread.


http://www.makingfriends.com/weave/images/woven_placemats.jpg

http://www.makingfriends.com/weave/woven_placemats.htm

[PrincessArky]

Nope, tie a knot in each one and they go in the 96 gallon monster trashcan that sits at the end of the drive on trash day.


Our scouts make these from grocery bags ...


Recycled Tote
We rescued some really cool punched vinyl from the landfill. Use it to weave a tote from recycled plastic bags to take with you the next time you go shopping. Makes a great beach bag too!

2 Yards Punched Vinyl
Assorted Plastic Bags
Scissors

Instructions:

If using standard size supermarket bags you will need about 16 bags.
Cut off the bag handles. Cut down one side and across the bottom.
Cut 36 long strips about 4" x 24". Cut punched vinyl into four 18" strips.
Overlap two pieces together lining up two rows of holes.
Weave cut plastic strips in and out the length of the punched plastic starting with the overlapped rows. Continue until you have woven the hole piece. Repeat to make the other side of the tote. Lay the two sides together. Tie sides in double knots. Trim. Cut 24 pieces of plastic to 4" x 6". Tie a piece through the each set of holes along the bottom. Double knotting and trimming. To make handles, cut 6 long strips of plastics about 4" x 24". Use them to make two braids, tying the ends into holes in the top as shown in photo in the link...

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/images/recycle_tote.jpg

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/recycle_tote.htm


Woven Placemats
These placemats take a bit of work of work but come out really nice.

Weaving Loops ( cut bags into loops )
Weaving Loom
Needle and Thread

Instructions:

Stretch loops across the loom, filling all the pegs. The cross weaving is done by pushing the supplied hook through the loops under and then over each set of loops, hooking over the peg at each end.

To finish the edges, begin at one corner and slip several loops off the pegs, slip loop two through loop one, then loop three through loop two, then loop four through loop three. Continue all around, tying off the last loop with the first loop.

Make six squares. Stitch together using a needle and thread.


http://www.makingfriends.com/weave/images/woven_placemats.jpg

http://www.makingfriends.com/weave/woven_placemats.htm



wow thats great.......so many ppl say they recycle them and all they do is fill them up and then up them in a larger one :(

I met a lady at the dentist office a couple months ago she takes the plastic bags crochets purses out of them......would have never guessed it was plastic

[Jolie Rouge]

Plastic Bag Crochet on Needlepointers.com
Make a handbag with plastic bags. Learn how to prepare and cut the plastic bags in addition to crochet instructions.
http://www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=593

Crocheting Plastic Grocery Bags into Tote Bags

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat http://www.ccthita-swan.org/pdf/Crocheting_bags.pdf

Crocheting Plastic Grocery Bags into Tote Bags. These instructions by Amelie Redman, Bethel, AK from Solid Solutions.

Crocheting With Yarn Made From Plastic Bags
Learn how to prepare ordinary plastic grocery or shopping bags for crocheting, instructions for turning plastic bags into yarn, hints and free patterns.
http://www.crochet.about.com/od/learncrochet/tp/crochetwbags.htm

Crocheting With Yarn Made From Plastic BagsJan 12, 2006 ... Learn how to prepare ordinary plastic grocery or shopping bags to use for crocheting. Links to instructions for turning plastic bags into ...
http://www.crochet.about.com/b/2006/01/12/crocheting-with-yarn-made-from-plastic-bags.htm

My Recycled Bags.com » Instructions for cutting plastic bags ...Feb 17, 2007 ... 39 Responses to “Instructions for cutting plastic bags & creating recycled ... Yes you could crochet a net bag using plastic bag yarn. ...
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/02/17/ instructions-for-cutting-plastic-bags-creating-recycled-plastic-yarn/

Pot Scrubber Crocheted from Plastic BagsJun 10, 2007 ... Here is my parade of pot scrubbers crocheted from recycled plastic bags! I used several different types of plastic to create these pot scrubbers ...
http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/06/ 10/pot-scrubber-crocheted-from-plastic-bags/

Crocheted Plastic : Home & Garden Television I usually used a K hook when I crocheted bread wrappers or trash bags. Paula Chavis, who has many items that she has made with plastic shopping bags ...
www.hgtv.com/crafting/crocheted-plastic/index.html

[Jenefer3]

I just heard on the news this morning that Seattle is planning on doing this soon too. I usually use the reusable totes but most of the time I forget them at home so I buy more....some day I'm going to round them all up and I'll probably end up having to give some away lol

[jbbarn]

:getyou How about we live as we please,like the free people we're supposed to be! Do we really need a "nanny" to tell us what kind of bags to use?

[Shann]

I think this is a great idea. Where I grew up they were all about recycling and have deposits on pop, where I'm at now I don't think they give a rats patootie about saving the environment and not creating a ton more waste than is needed. I try to remember my reusable bags as well and sometimes forget but all the plastic bags we get we do recycle. I know they have made garbage bags (yes you have to buy them) that are bio-degradable for small trash cans and I would be more than happy to use those if it meant less waste in the world.

[Mom2Shaun]

Oh noooo! I don't even have a trash can for the kitchen, 'cause I hate how they get dirty (even when lined). I always just hang a grocery bag on 2 handles from my cupboard, then just carry it out to the garbage each night. I like this method and I don't want to change! Waaaagh!

[Jolie Rouge]

I think this is a great idea. Where I grew up they were all about recycling and have deposits on pop, where I'm at now I don't think they give a rats patootie about saving the environment and not creating a ton more waste than is needed. I try to remember my reusable bags as well and sometimes forget but all the plastic bags we get we do recycle. I know they have made garbage bags (yes you have to buy them) that are bio-degradable for small trash cans and I would be more than happy to use those if it meant less waste in the world.

You mean "It is a great idea FOR ME." I thought this was a free country were we get to make our own choices. I'd be glad to comply - when they going to enforce the laws regarding pollution and waste management on the Corporate level where they create TONS of waste instead of the measley amounts created by a household.

This is the typical PITA 'feel good' while lacking any real meaning legistlation that I abor.

[janelle]

I don't think the Giverment needs to shove this down people's throats. I use my plastic grocery sacks as liners for small cans in each room - without the bags I would have to purchase commercial plastic liners ... more plastic.. more packaging... more shipping costs ... more WASTE.

Reduce - Reuse - Recyle

Whoops Jolie, I think you mispelled government. They will never be the giverment---LOL wish they were. They mostly take instead of give. Roll eyes.

Anyway, I do hate to see all those plastic bags blowing around. We have them up in trees. Walmart does not ask you paper or plastic, you get plastic. I do reuse them to line trash cans and they have handles. I will take back the ones I can't use to the store for the recycle container.

Sometimes they only put one item in a bag so I end up with so many, especially around the holidays. I see the cloth bags at the store for a dollar but I already have a lot of cloth bags, just would need to remember to take them when I shop.

[PrincessArky]

I think this is a great idea. Where I grew up they were all about recycling and have deposits on pop, where I'm at now I don't think they give a rats patootie about saving the environment and not creating a ton more waste than is needed. I try to remember my reusable bags as well and sometimes forget but all the plastic bags we get we do recycle. I know they have made garbage bags (yes you have to buy them) that are bio-degradable for small trash cans and I would be more than happy to use those if it meant less waste in the world.

I wish my area would get more into recycling as well. We supposedly do have a county program and all I found was an email sent it off and heard nothing yet :( When I was in Australia I was amazed to see how much recycling they do there it really made me think about my impact on the planet

[stresseater]

Oh noooo! I don't even have a trash can for the kitchen, 'cause I hate how they get dirty (even when lined). I always just hang a grocery bag on 2 handles from my cupboard, then just carry it out to the garbage each night. I like this method and I don't want to change! Waaaagh!

I do this a lot and my bags never end up in a landfil as we burn our trash.

[3lilpigs]

You mean "It is a great idea FOR ME." I thought this was a free country were we get to make our own choices. I'd be glad to comply - when they going to enforce the laws regarding pollution and waste management on the Corporate level where they create TONS of waste instead of the measley amounts created by a household.

This is the typical PITA 'feel good' while lacking any real meaning legistlation that I abor.

You do have a choice.....bring your own bag, or buy a paper one.

These plastic bags were a joke from the beginning. Having to double them for most of my groceries. And you can't get as much in them as you can a paper bag. Such a waste. And I can't tell you how many times I see them littered along side the highways.

One of the main reasons they want to do away with them is because of cost. It takes petroleum to make them, and it's costing too much. If they cut back on making these, then they cut back on pollution.

[stresseater]

You do have a choice.....bring your own bag, or buy a paper one.

These plastic bags were a joke from the beginning. Having to double them for most of my groceries. And you can't get as much in them as you can a paper bag. Such a waste. And I can't tell you how many times I see them littered along side the highways.
I guarantee I can carry more groceries with the plastic at once than I can with paper. So because some idiots litter the rest of us should do with out them. I saw some paper on the ground the other day let's get rid of paper.

One of the main reasons they want to do away with them is because of cost. It takes petroleum to make them, and it's costing too much. If they cut back on making these, then they cut back on pollution. Can they not be recycled and made of of the same material?

[Jolie Rouge]

Not happy with how we carry our groceries ... now they will legislate our food choices as well ... http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-information/592608-more-goverment-nanny-los-angeles-wants-take-bite-out-fast-food.html





You mean "It is a great idea FOR ME." I thought this was a free country were we get to make our own choices. I'd be glad to comply - when they going to enforce the laws regarding pollution and waste management on the Corporate level where they create TONS of waste instead of the measley amounts created by a household.

This is the typical PITA 'feel good' while lacking any real meaning legistlation that I abor.

You do have a choice.....bring your own bag, or buy a paper one.

These plastic bags were a joke from the beginning. Having to double them for most of my groceries. And you can't get as much in them as you can a paper bag. Such a waste. And I can't tell you how many times I see them littered along side the highways.

One of the main reasons they want to do away with them is because of cost. It takes petroleum to make them, and it's costing too much. If they cut back on making these, then they cut back on pollution.

Nice side-step to the question of the TONS of waste produced commercially and Corporately while concentrating on the pounds and ounces produced by private households.

[Jolie Rouge]

November 7, 2008
In Mayor’s Plan, the Plastic Bag Will Carry a Fee
By DAVID W. CHEN

In its struggle to make New York more green, the Bloomberg administration has tried discouraging people from using plastic bags. It has taken out ads beseeching residents to use cloth bags and set up recycling bins for plastic bags at supermarkets.

But now the carrots have been put away, and the stick is out: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register.

If the proposal passes, New York City would follow the lead of many European countries and become one of the first places in the United States to assess a so-called plastic bag tax.

Seattle voters will weigh in on a similar measure next year, and other places, like Los Angeles and Dallas, have studied the idea.

City officials estimate that the fee could generate $16 million a year, a figure that Mr. Bloomberg would no doubt appreciate, given the lingering and concussive effects of the global economic crisis on the city’s economy.

But while the fee would burnish Mr. Bloomberg’s environmental record, it might not be a lasting source of revenue. Just a few weeks after Ireland adopted a similar, though much heftier tax in 2002 — charging shoppers 33 cents a bag — plastic bag use dropped 94 percent, and within a year, nearly everyone in that country had purchased reusable cloth bags. Still, the mayor believes that the 6-cent fee would have a major impact on consumers’ behavior.

Environmentalists like the sound of Mr. Bloomberg’s idea. But from the corner deli to the high-end grocery store, other New Yorkers are not so sure.

At the 2000 N.Y. Deli on Second Avenue at 103rd Street in East Harlem, the owner, Sammy Ali, 30, said his customers would balk at paying for plastic. “No way,” Mr. Ali said on Thursday. “They ask us for plastic bags for free as it is. When we say no, they curse us out. They demand a bag for a 25-cent bag of chips.”

At Citarella on the Upper West Side, a customer, Anita Ramautar, said she would begrudgingly change her behavior, if only to deny the city the pleasure of collecting the money. “I’ll bring my own bag,” she said. “Why would I give them 5 cents?”

Ah, but remembering to bring that bag is another matter altogether. After all, New York is a place where people are almost programmed to do things impulsively, because it is so easy to just hop into a bodega or a deli or a 99-cent store to buy anything, anytime, no forethought required.

“You have to get used to using these,” said Lauren Robertson, 54, an occupational therapist who lives in Washington Heights, who was loading groceries in canvas bags into her car in the Fairway parking lot on 130th Street near the Hudson River on Thursday morning. “So many times I’d get into the store and realize I forgot my bags in the car.”

Bloomberg officials say the proposal remains a work in progress. But for now, the plan is to charge customers 6 cents a bag at the point of sale, with 1 cent going to the store owner as an incentive to comply, said Marc La Vorgna, a Bloomberg spokesman. The officials did not elaborate on the mechanics of how the money would be remitted to the city, or how the law would be enforced.

It sounds like a tax, but officials call it a fee. The distinction is important: A fee requires approval only from the City Council, while a tax requires approval from the State Legislature.

Unlike a number of ideas that seem to have been inspired by experiments in other countries (such as exploring wind power, based on windmills which Mr. Bloomberg saw off the coast of England, or temporarily closing off streets to cars, based on a program in Bogotá, Colombia, that the mayor had heard about), this one, city officials say, was hatched in the mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.

The idea is not totally foreign to the metropolitan area. The Ikea furniture chain, which opened its first New York City store in June, on the Brooklyn waterfront in Red Hook, began charging customers 5 cents for each plastic bag in 2007; since then, the store says, plastic bag use has been cut in half. Several large supermarket chains in the region, like Whole Foods Markets, offer refunds when customers bring reusable bags.

Eric A. Goldstein, a senior lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that he was encouraged by the idea.

“It’s simple, it’s streamlined, it advances environmental objectives and it generates some funds,” he said.

And one environmentally conscious resident who applauded the idea was Richard Marshall, a retired opera director, who was shopping outside a Key Food supermarket in Astoria, Queens, on Thursday.

“I think Bloomberg should start charging a dollar a bag,” he said, clutching two reusable bags. “All this waste. All these millions and millions of bags. They don’t decompose, and they use all this oil to make them.”

Several City Council members said they were intrigued, but needed to see more details. Several did note, however, that it was only a few months ago that the Council passed — with the help of environmentalists and plastic bag manufacturers — a law requiring all stores that provide plastic bags to accept plastic bags for recycling, with some exceptions. And during the lengthy public debate over that bill, council members heard speakers testify that fees of at least 25 cents a bag needed to be imposed to get consumers to change their behavior.

Another concern is whether the tax would hurt poor residents, as well as small businesses, disproportionately — a concern mentioned by council members, environmentalists and manufacturers alike.

“A tax on plastic shopping bags would be regressive, with the most severe impacts on those who are least able to absorb them,” said Keith Christman, senior director of packaging for the American Chemistry Council, a manufacturers’ lobby. “There are better ways to protect the environment, to encourage sustainable choices and to support recycling without making it harder for those who are already struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economy.”

Some residents, meanwhile, complained that the timing of the plan could not have been any worse, given that the mayor recently announced plans to raise property taxes earlier than expected, cut financing for a host of programs and possibly raise the sales or income tax.

“We’re paying taxes on everything else; why not bags, right?” Juana Perez, 25, of East Harlem, said with a sigh. “How many other taxes is he going to raise?”

“These people,” she continued, indicating the neighborhood at large, “they already pay so much for rent and food. Only in New York City,” she said, shaking her head.

Jennifer Mascia and Mick Meenan contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/nyregion/07bags.html


see also : http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-information/539326-banning-plastic-bags.html

[whatever]

Um are some of you overlooking the obvious? Okay so they take these away BUT will still sell plastic bags for you garbage containers. So the purpose of this is what? Just to save the store money, but cost the consumers more money, correct. I use them as trash liners also JOLIE. So it saves me from BUYING liners (which are wasteful also) to put in my small trash containers.
Plus I use them for Soooo many other purposes. I am BIG on recycling here. EVen though out here I am not yet required to. I even burn little pieces of paper. We go thru VERY little trash because of it.
So I totally agree with JOLIE It should not be up to the goverment, If they would think about it they are not saving anything in the long run. Becaue I know ALOT of people who use these as liners who will now just have to buy garbage bags which are basically a thicker version!!
And also Its no different than people NOT recycling their water bottles and just throwing them away if they do NOT recycle these. IMO

[jeanea33]

I recycle everyday. I think more should recycle as well. I know plenty of cities in my state that dont have those services. I think we need to start there. Here they want to pass that law as well, I find 33 cents a bag way to much. The stores and the goverment will be the one to profit not the consumer. They are projecting it could make 16 million a year. I dont think the goverment in that state is looking out for his people. Sounds like wants more money to spend. Proven fact penalizing people doesnt work.

[speedygirl]

Our grocery store started doing away with the plastic bags this past spring. They had a promotion that for every $25 you spent you got a free cloth bag. Within 2 weeks I was all stocked up. They still have handled paper bags that they charge 25 cents for. If you want to use plastic you have to bring your own. It was tough to get used to bringing my own bags with me but I'm finally used to it.

[meltodd69]

There is a little town here, about 30 min away. The whole town recycles! They have a place to drop off any recycle materials. With the money that little town has raised they bought one of those street sweepers, that also sucks the leaves. And every year they have a festival which that money pays for. Every penny goes right back into the town for the people to enjoy. We have been taking ours over there lately. It has really cut back on our trash.
Banning the bags is a stupid idea IMO. It's just an easy way out on solving the problem. And eventually they will figure out that it solved nothing.

[SurferGirl]

I always reuse my plastic bags, they are always handy.
I use 2 of the canvas totes for heavy items but I don't want meats or anything like that put in those bags. They don't hold up well after many washings.

In California they charge for plastic soda bottles and glass beverage containers and on aluminum cans. When you take them to recycle you don't get as much back as you paid for them.

We have a regular trash can and then a recycle can and then one for yard clippings. Every week they rotate and one week is recycle week and the next is the yard clipping week.

[speedygirl]

I always reuse my plastic bags, they are always handy.
I use 2 of the canvas totes for heavy items but I don't want meats or anything like that put in those bags. They don't hold up well after many washings.

In California they charge for plastic soda bottles and glass beverage containers and on aluminum cans. When you take them to recycle you don't get as much back as you paid for them.

We have a regular trash can and then a recycle can and then one for yard clippings. Every week they rotate and one week is recycle week and the next is the yard clipping week.

We have the same thing with cans and bottles. The market has those machines that give you a nickle back for each can or bottle that you paid the deposit on.
We also have recycling mandated by the city. We have to pay for city trash bags which are 75 cents per bag for small size and $1.25 for large. It's called "pay as yout throw". The fees just went up.
We have to have a bin for glass and metal, one for papers, one for bagged trash. Clippings and such are bagged seperately in a specific city bag ($2.00 each) and picked up weekly.
Right now we have leaf pickup going on. We used to have to bag them all but now we can rake them out to the curbside right before the do pick up. They have a special truck that is like a vacuum that sucks them up and grinds them up. Living in New England, we'd spend too much money and time bagging and raking so this new way has worked out great.
The city just won some sort of award for having one of the highest recycling rates in the country.

[anothersta]

That is called "Freedom of Choice". Here is an idea. Most markets here sell the cloth and canvas totes for about a dollar. Every time you forget your bags at home buy a new set... then you will have plenty.

I don't think the Giverment needs to shove this down people's throats. I use my plastic grocery sacks as liners for small cans in each room - without the bags I would have to purchase commercial plastic liners ... more plastic.. more packaging... more shipping costs ... more WASTE.

Reduce - Reuse - Recyle

That's what we have here. It's optional. I purchased the totes for 1.00 and always take them right out to the car after unloading and put them in my front seat so I don't forget them when I go to the store.

[atprm]

well we have bottle deposit on all beverage bottles (except for juice, milk and water)... so 10 cents for each you pay for and you get 10 cents each for each one you turn in.

Milk jugs are so versatile!! When you don't think that it's safe enough to store liquids in, cut the bottoms off and use them to "thread" your tomato plants through -- catches more rain water (bottom cut side up), and acts as a stablilizer.... or use them (cut bottom side down) to cover tender vegetation when there is a threat of frost.

[YankeeMary]

We recycle everything here. I am so tired of it...lol. We will continue to do it but I don't have to like it...lol. I have 5 trashcans in my house. 4 of them are for recycling and the other is just for trash. I have 4 of them under a tall table so they are real noticable. they are for cardboard, plastic, glass, aluminum. We have a recycling center here, that if you take them your recyclables then they only charge 25 cent per bag of trash. Its a good deal and helps so much with our environment. We do it because we choose to. I like that we aren't made to do it. We are adults and can make our own decision. And I love and hate those plastic grocies bags. I also reuse them them as trash liners and to take things to other places. I also give them to a thrift store here.

[atprm]

used to be that Catholic schools would collect them... they would bind them (roll them) into 100 bags and get $5.00 for every 100 bags or something like that. Not sure if they do that anymore though...

[SurferGirl]

One of the teenagers in our neighborhood makes these stuffed animals that you can hang up in your kitchen and they hold the plastic bags so they are handy when you need them. I told her that she should sell these online or something. I think she makes up a bunch and sells them at arts and crafts shows.

[iluvmybaby]

Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores
Wed Jul 23, 8:18 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.

The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.

After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.

The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.

San Francisco, 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of here, also in California, in 2007 became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores.

Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.

Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080723/ts_alt_afp/usenvironmentpollutionplasticbags;_ylt=AiTae2E_hu3 EQe6DpX.OsF1H2ocA



Since the average paper bag cost is about .05 to .03, to charge the customer .25 is certainly punative.

I am 100% in agreement that they need to get rid of plastic bags that clog landfills. However, I do not agree that $0.25 PER bag is acceptable. However, if it was $0.25 per trip, I would be down with it. This will encourage more people to bring canvas bags and help the enviroment. I recycle everything possible, I even use paper bags again for draining fried foods or as book covers

[Jolie Rouge]

Mods - can we "MERGE" the two "Banning Plastic" threads ?

[Jolie Rouge]

Millions of tons of trash dumped into world's oceans, mostly from China

http://www.trbimg.com/img-54dd54ec/turbine/la-sci-sn-china-plastic-waste-oceans-20150211-001/550/550x309

The oceans absorbed 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic trash in 2010, with China leading the list of contributors, according to a first-ever report card on plastic waste published online Thursday in the journal Science. (Malin Jacob)

By Geoffrey Mohan February 13, 2015

Millions of tons of plastic trash flow into the world’s oceans each year, and a new study finds that most of it comes from China and developing economies in Asia. The study, published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, estimates that China's heavily coastal population contributes 1.3 million to 3.5 million metric tons of plastic to the world's oceans each year, largely due to mismanaged waste. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768

Eight of the top 10 contributors were in Asia, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh, according to the study, which estimated that 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic wound up in the world's oceans in 2010. “Our low-end estimate is equivalent to the amount of tuna fished from the ocean in a single year,” said oceanographer Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Assn. in Woods Hole, Mass., the study’s senior author. “We are taking out tuna and putting in plastic.”

Assuming the true figure is in the middle of the range — about 8 million metric tons — the amount of debris “is the same as five [trash] bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world,” added coauthor Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia environmental engineer.

Although flotillas of plastic trash have been reported in Earth's oceans since the 1970s, there has been little attempt to quantify its origin, largely because data are incomplete or difficult to obtain.

However, the ecological effects of the long-lasting trash, much of it matted up in massive ocean gyres, are becoming more clear.

Fish and other sea animals can ingest large pieces of plastic that clog their intestines, or can become entangled and suffocate, studies show. As the plastic breaks down to smaller pieces, it can be ingested by smaller invertebrates that are the base of the food chain.

A study last year found that amount of floating plastic in the oceans had not increased since the 1980s, despite increased plastic production. Researchers involved in that work suspect the plastic is still there, but has been breaking down into small pieces that sink deep into the water column, where marine life can mistake it for zooplankton, and consume it.

For the new study, researchers focused on plastic discarded from coastal population areas. They had to rely on indirect methods to quantify how much plastic was in waste that was not properly disposed of, and then estimate how much was likely to end up in oceans.

Researchers used 2005 data from the World Bank to come up with figures on the amount of waste generated per capita as well as the amount of that waste that was plastic. The data were available for only for 73 countries; for the other countries, the researchers made conservative estimates based on the figures for other countries with similar per-capita incomes.

The researchers then assumed that the amount of plastic waste grew by 0.19% per year since 2005. That figure was derived in part from the growth in U.S. plastic waste since the 1960s, as measured by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nearly one-third of the 100 million metric tons of plastic waste generated by the world's coastal population is mismanaged. Quantifying the precise amount that ultimately washes out to sea is problematic, though, since there is a dearth of reliable data.

A 2012 San Francisco Bay Area study found that street sweeping, storm water catchment and pumping stations in 71 municipalities missed about 61% of trash. The researchers used more conservative estimates in their models, ranging between 15% and 40%.

Few of the top contributing countries have adequate infrastructure for handling trash disposal, the study authors noted. Even with a well-developed infrastructure to handle solid waste, the U.S. contributed 40,000 to 110,000 metric tons per year, and ranked 20th, they found.

If waste practices don't change and economies and populations continue on their present trajectories, the mass of plastic likely to flow into the oceans each year will just about double by 2025, the researchers projected.

But even small changes could stem the growth, the authors suggested. If the top 20 countries cut mismanaged waste in half, the total mass of mismanaged plastic would drop 41%, the study estimated. “The solutions needs to be a combination of global and localized efforts,” said Jambeck, who added that she uses a refillable water bottle and reusable grocery bags.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-tons-of-plastic-trash-in-oceans-20150213-story.html