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Posts Tagged ‘reusable bags’

Why BYOB?This is a query everyone must ask themselves.  We are midway through 2010 and there has by no means been a more essential time to bring your own reusable green bags. When you BYOB, rather than using single-use plastic or paper disposable bags, you immediately become a part of the solution to the immense urban waste problem linked with disposable shopping bag waste.  As of July 1, 2010, it is estimated that more than 240 billion plastic bags have been consumed in 2010 alone.  What ís even more alarming is the effect that plastic and paper disposable bags are continuing to have on the environment.   The intent of this article is to look at the most recent news regarding large-scale efforts to cut down on the use of plastic and paper throw-away bags along with the subsequent waste, and talk about what choices are available to us individual consumers in order to make sure we are a part of the solution to this crisis.  

The good news is that BYOB momentum is rising quickly in this year.  If you have not noticed yet, the California legislature has proposed a bill; AB 1998 (to be voted on by the Senate in August), which would outlaw throw-away bags sold inside supermarkets, drugstores, convenience, and liquor stores and take full effect around 2013.  Even ìThe Governatorî, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that he would sign his name on the legislation if it makes it to his desk.   This could be a gigantic victory for all friends of the environment to have the largest state, inside the 3rd largest country on the planet, to put in place a prohibition on throw-away plastic bags. Taking into consideration that China already c racked down on plastic bags in 2008 and Ireland legislative efforts to lower plastic bag consumption started in 2002, it is so terrific to hear that California state representatives have presented this possible law to the table.  

In the United States, metropolitan areas from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Washington DC have voted for or enacted laws and regulations that either tax customers for the utilization of plastic bags or prohibit them overall, but California would be the first American state to take action if this possible law were to be approved.  More exciting news, even legislators from the state of Texas have created possible legislation that would affix a seven-cent tax per throw-away bag used.   It is so amazing that there is a chance that both Texas and/or California may possibly soon have policies in place to battle the plastic bag epidemic.  Efforts by persons and governments to decrease large-scale use of throw-away shopping bags is a great method to motivate people and spread the word concerning the overwhelmingly positive benefits of ecologically friendly reusable shopping bags.

Plastic bags might take up to one thousand years to biodegrade fully, and prior to that it just decomposes down in to smaller and smaller poisonous pieces that wind up inside our food, water, and soil. Biodegradable reusable grocery bags, are a wonderful alternative, once thrown away in landfill sites, the subjection to daylight, oxygen, and warmth will convert these bags into liquid, carbon dioxide, mineral salt and biomass.  Like a fallen leaf, it will disappear in time plus leave NO Toxic Residue in the soil.  Plastic bags finish up inside our landfills moreover regularly get tangled and trigger permanent problems in trash management machinery.   Hundreds of millions if not billions of other bags end up as urban litter and usually find their way in to ponds, resevoirs, streams, and the sea.  Animals, especially marine animals, get entangled in plastic bags, and/or swallow them and often asphyxiate or starve to death.  

So the resolution leads us back to BYOB, which is extremely effortless.  Just remember to utilize ecologically friendly reusable grocery bags or recycled grocery bags, or reuse an older bag, period.  Be sure to keep extra reusable bags inside your vehicle and/or inside your backpack, because you will want to be sure they are accessible as soon as you require them.  Also remember to clean your bags after use, especially after transporting uncooked foods and cleaning supplies.  You may also offer them to your family as a reminder to BYOB.  Of course, continuously remember to recycle when the chance presents itself, recycling is always a win-win situation for the natural world.  Instituting a BYOB habit in our individual lives and organizations is certainly the finest way to make sure we are truly part of the solution rather than the problem.  Now is the time to go out and lead by example.

It is time for BYOB! Yes, bring your own shopping bag!  While we keep on our journey through a eventful 2010, it’s crazy to think about how much purchasing we traditionally do now in America and world-wide. Whether it’s regular trips to the supermarket as we keep our kitchen’s stocked for amazing meals and tasty goodies or those occasionally dreaded (yet skillful) “6 bags on each arm” walks through the neighborhood shopping mall, it all adds up to so much unnecessary waste.  One of the most blatant examples of this waste is disposable shopping bags.

An estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags are used each year within the USA, according to the Wall-Street Journal.  Most plastic bags end up in landfills and the rest frequently end up in rivers, ponds, lakes, streams or in the sea, where animals can ingest or become entangled in them.  Considering the number of shopping bags that are consumed and wasted each year, the time is now to spread the word about the positive benefits of eco-friendly reusable grocery bags.  After all, the majority of us want to give back to our families, friends and communities as often as possible.

Creating a BYOB approach in our individual shopping habits is a simple method to do just that.  If we can increase awareness presently, the positive impact for our environment is immense for 2010 and well into the future.  Numerous metropolitan areas have already made gradual but momentous progress in promoting the use of eco friendly bags in recent years.  Encouraging consumers with plastic and paper bag bans, savings at the register for reusable bag usage and tax motivations are a few to speak of.

Right here in America, the San Jose City Council recently approved among the nation’s strictest bans on plastic and paper shopping bags.   It is a great victory for the Bay Area, which has 1 million plastic bags per year accumulating in and along the San Francisco Bay.  San Jose becomes the latest bay area town to enact some sort of ban on disposable shopping bags; others comprise of San Francisco and Palo Alto. Tracy Seipel of the San Jose Mercury News reported that it was actually ONE man who truly jump-started the ban, a further remarkable instance of the power of one person.  Here’s a an excerpt:

“While visiting his sister-in-law in Taipei, (Kansen) Chu (elected to San Jose city council in 2007) went grocery shopping and was surprised to get charged for plastic grocery bags. The next day, he brought his own cloth bags back to the store.  “I guess the question,” said Chu, “was, ‘Why not San Jose?’ ” He began a conversation with the city’s environmental services staff, which later moved to council committee discussions.

Save the Bay’s 4th annual report on the most garbage-strewn sites in the area further demonstrates the need for BYOB.  The 50-year-old environmental advocacy group focused on 10 explicit bay-area sites where almost 15,000 plastic bags were retrieved in one day last year in their account.   Here’s an passage of an article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Kelly Zito.

According to (Save the Bay’s) research, Californians use about 19 billion plastic bags each year, 3.8 million in the Bay Area. The average use time for the bags – made using about 12 million barrels of oil each year in the United States – is about 12 minutes. In addition to the hundreds of years it can take for a plastic bag to decompose in a landfill, the bags also force downtime when fed into traditional recycling equipment. Typically, the bags get wound into conveyor belts or gears and must be cut out by hand.

Ten US metropolitan areas have banned plastic bags thus far, five in the past year. Even Mexico City enacted a ban on plastic shopping bags, which went into effect in August.  The city of 20 million currently faces the realities of effective enforcement, which isn’t easy while the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce estimates there are actually 35,000 vendors in Mexico City’s downtown area alone.

Bans on plastic bags aren’t the only valuable means to cut back dangerous waste brought on by disposable bags.  PlasTaxes, which tax customers at the register for using plastic bags while shopping, were being primarily launched by the Irish.  John Roach of National Geographic reported in 2008 about the worldwide momentum that’s been building from the time when Ireland instilled a PlasTax in 2003.  The Irish confirmed they could cut down plastic bag utilization by 90% or more.   Momentum is increasing the world over, particularly in America.  From Washington, DC to Edmonds, WA to North Pole, AK, communities and governments are developing a global trend to scale back the unsafe environmental effects of disposable shopping bags.  In the great state of Hawaii, the legislature is at this time considering a bill to ban single-use plastic bags (SUP), or to ascertain a small fee to use SUP bags.

Even major retail stores like Target and CVS are taking action by enacting savings at the register for customers who decide to BYOB or simply carry-out their items without a bag.  For the naysayers, it’s convenient to disregard recent momentum in reducing disposable bag waste.  But to a few, the wide-spread adoption of eco friendly recycled bags is inevitable.  Have a look at the way smoking is becoming taboo in America.  Indoor smoking bans have caught on like wild-fire.  In the same way, who’s to say the use of disposable bags won’t turn out to be taboo someday within the (hopefully near) future?  The use of eco-friendly recycled grocery bags is certainly gaining steam.  Our personal decisions to carry our recycled shopping bags can go considerably farther than we imagine.  That’s what BYOB is all about.

Obviously, plastic and paper bags ought to be recycled and it’s important to keep in mind most large retailers including Albertsons and Wal-Mart will recycle plastic bags for you (just need to bring them your accumulated stash).  That being said, a BYOB shopping strategy can make your life much easier because there isn’t a need to accumulate that cupboard full of plastic bags or determine what and when to deal with it.  Keeping a few eco friendly bags in your car or backpack is a great way to ensure you possess them when required. So give back this year by remembering to BYOB!   Whether it be in a convenience store, the shopping mall, or while grocery shopping, we can make a difference for the environment and help increase consciousness one transaction at a time.  In the battle to eliminate disposable shopping bag waste, 2010 is our moment.

Everyday we have chioces to make that can help the health of our planet.  It seems that there is never enough time to do everything that we can or want to do. Some choices we know, and it’s just a matter of using them.  We buy reusable shopping bags and all we need to do is remember to bring them to the store every time we shop – easy enough, right?

Not everything is this simple, however.  For example, we can open our window shades to let in light, but should close them when the sun beats in so we don’t have to kick up the air conditioner to compensate.  It is also a good idea to get in the habit of turning lights off when you leave the room and only turning them on when they need to be on.  All of these little things can add up, but can also take a toll on someone trying to be green – after all the idea is to be green not gray!   This is where automation can help – it takes care of the details for us on a daily basis.

Thankfully, there are numerous ways that you can automate your home windows to create a more eco-friendly home.   The simplest are timer controlled automatic shades.  These are exactly what they sound like: a set of blinds or shades that have a timer-controlled motor.  At a set time of the day the shades or blinds will open or close, helping maintain climate control and preserving you furniture from fading. You may be wondering how effective this can be considering that the angle of the daylight changes throughout the day – photocell shades provide you with an answer and solution.  These shades work in the same manner but replace the time with a photocell, designed to open and close at set light levels.

The choices that we make when it comes to lighting our house can also have environmental impacts. Perhaps the most common ways that the average consumer can “go green” is by using organic cotton bags or installing compact florescent bulbs in their lights at home. They are slightly more expensive and have some disposal issues, but do save energy over standard bulbs. While changing your light bulbs to CFLs is a great first step, realize that there are several other things that can be done.

It can be a real hassle making sure your lights are on only as much as absolutely necessary. Families with children will find this to be especially challenging.  It can be a constant battle teaching young children to switch off lights that are not needed.  A motion sensor light in the bathroom is a good place to start. If the child walks out, it can be programmed to go off a short time delay.  Not having to fumble around in the dark looking for the light switch also provides some additional safety benefits. How about no lights at all during the day?

Light tubes are relatively inexpensive skylights that consist of a rooftop lens, a reflective light tube and a dispersal lens at the base.  They are sized to fit between rafters, so no expensive carpentry is needed to install them.  During the day, hallways stay lit or rooms are assisted with a boost of natural light.  The cost is about the same as a high quality floor lamp, but cost nothing to run.

By installing some smart devices; auto dimming shades, light controls and even doing away with lights, you can save money, and live eco friendly.