No more plastic bags!! :)

[marina]

Hi guys smile.gif You know how I feel about plastic bags, so when I saw this today, I thought I'd share this with you!! Very exciting!!

NYC PASSES PLASTIC BAG RECYCLING BILL
(from http://www.stopglobalwarming.org )

Last week, New York City took a giant step forward in the fight against plastic. New York's City Council passed a bill requiring large stores and retail chains to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags. According to a New York Times report: "New York is by far the largest American city to enact so broad a measure to limit the environmental impact of the bags.

Altogether, each year the country is estimated to use 86 billion bags, which end up blowing down city streets, or tangled in the stomachs of whales, sea turtles and birds, or buried in landfills where they enjoy free rent for 1,000 years."

Other cities like Melbourne and San Francisco have banned bags outright. San Francisco was the first city in North America to ban non-recyclable and non-biodegradable bags made from petroleum products.

Africa has moved toward a continent-wide plastic bag ban, and just last week, China's cabinet issued a directive banning their production, prohibiting stores from handing out free plastic bags after June 1st and imposing fees on their usage. People in China use up to 3 billion plastic bags daily!

Help keep the momentum going here in the United States and just say no to plastic bags!

[marina]

haha, noboby shares my views on plastic bags..
i am sad :(

[Nick]

I do!

[marina]

Originally posted by Nick:
I do! I am no longer sad!
smile.gif

[ulfdog]

It's not that I don’t shares your views on plastic bags, it’s just that I worry about all the young children in third world countries. The ones who earn 50 cents a month making those plastic bags, or the one’s who hand paint things like “THANK YOU or WALMART” on each bags. What will they do when they won’t be able to work ten to twelve hours a day so we can have a cheap way to carry our stuff home. What will the major corporations do, when they can’t have cheap bags so they can pay large sums of money to major sport figures and celebrities to carry these plastic bags in their commercials.

Let’s keep these kids busy, hard working and out of trouble .....

;)

[Zulumika]

Originally posted by marina:
haha, noboby shares my views on plastic bags..
i am sad :( Over here in canada, there are some thing going on:
Plastic bag ban begins in Huntingdon (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=200bf14d-fd57-4beb-97fd-e56c2b0df324&k=30787)

Also, my wife got a cool reusable bag at La Senza:
My Bag Rocks (http://www.lasenza.com/eng/categorysearch/redirect.cfm?sectionID=b2c/style/productDetails.cfm&itemID=283701-002&itemCategoryLevel1=105&itemCategoryLevel2=160)

I have 4-5 reusable bags in my car for groceries too; they are much more tough and bigger so I can stuff all my shit in 3-4 bags instead of 10 plastic ones.

CHeers!

Mathieu - zulumika@gmail.com

[ToddM]

I care also. Whenever I'm at the store, I always use the least amount of bags possible. And the bags I don't use to take out trash, I recycle with the rest of my stuff,(plastics,newspapers,aluminum cans etc.) So there you go, I care also! Thanks to you, Marina!

[LittleEarthquakes]

Originally posted by ToddM:
I care also. Whenever I'm at the store, I always use the least amount of bags possible. And the bags I don't use to take out trash, I recycle with the rest of my stuff,(plastics,newspapers,aluminum cans etc.) So there you go, I care also! Thanks to you, Marina! I used to do the same, but now I use only reusable bags. I bought a Marina V tote and use it for groceries all the time!
I am glad that Marina and others here care about environment and about reducing garbage amounts.

[JLB]

Hi Marina,

Did you know that, in the UK, paper isn't even an option? As far as the supermarkets here are concerned, it's plastic or nothing.

Still, the green movement is going forward and, of course, in addition to using your own fibre bags, if you do need to use some of the store's bags, our local store & one of the biggest in the country, Sainsbury's, will take all of your bags back and recycle them, which is cool.

They're talking about a tax (of about 10p/20 cents) on each plastic bag you take from the store, the proceeds of which will go towards environmental projects, which I would certainly support as a worthy idea, although it would, occasionally, hit the poor with additional taxes they couldn't afford.

Fiona and I try to re-use and recycle as much as we can and, wherever possible, take our fibre bags with us. ;)

[marina]

Originally posted by JLB:
Hi Marina,

Did you know that, in the UK, paper isn't even an option? As far as the supermarkets here are concerned, it's plastic or nothing.

Still, the green movement is going forward and, of course, in addition to using your own fibre bags, if you do need to use some of the store's bags, our local store & one of the biggest in the country, Sainsbury's, will take all of your bags back and recycle them, which is cool.

They're talking about a tax (of about 10p/20 cents) on each plastic bag you take from the store, the proceeds of which will go towards environmental projects, which I would certainly support as a worthy idea, although it would, occasionally, hit the poor with additional taxes they couldn't afford.

Fiona and I try to re-use and recycle as much as we can and, wherever possible, take our fibre bags with us. ;) I did not know about no paper bags in England.
As for creating tax on each plastic bag, the govt (here in the US, at least) always say that it will hurt the poor. But the poor can bring their own plastic bag to the store and they won't get charged, right? smile.gif
When I was growing up in Russia, it was the very end of Soviet Union, and the stores did not even offer a plastic bag.
We had to bring our own bag to the store. ALWAYS. If you didn't bring a bag, you'd carry your food in your hands!
smile.gif
And... we had to bring our own cartons (or plastic holders) for eggs, also for sugar (bring your own 3-liter glass jar), often for vegetable oil (sunflower seed oil) and for many other things (like you bring you own jar for sour cream).
And it worked so well!!! There was almost no waste and no garbage. We didn't have plastic bottles either - everybody carried a thermos-type thing w/them.
All of the newspapers were always recycled - you'd take a heap of old newspapers and get a book in exchange!
I know it can easily work - I saw it work! And nobody really NEEDS those plastic bags or plastic water bottles!
smile.gif

p.s. It's cool that the fabric (tote) bags are called "fibre bags" in England:)

[JLB]

Very true - if people can't afford the tax levied on plastic bags, they'll make sure they bring something to carry their groceries home in.

Interesting to read about what you had to do in Russia. I can just imagine the stores telling some pampered Brits/Americans to carry their food in their hands and bring a three-litre bottle with them for sugar! :D

[marina]

Originally posted by JLB:
Very true - if people can't afford the tax levied on plastic bags, they'll make sure they bring something to carry their groceries home in.

Interesting to read about what you had to do in Russia. I can just imagine the stores telling some pampered Brits/Americans to carry their food in their hands and bring a three-litre bottle with them for sugar! :D You're right, most people will probably react adversely at first smile.gif
But, with the world population approaching 7 billion, the exponential growth of waste (garbage) is truly an impending global issue, a crisis. Reducing amounts of trash we produce must be a priority, otherwise we'll soon be living in one big toxic landfill.
When I read history and see how people pull together and sacrifice many things for the greater good in times of crisis, like war, we can certainly be slightly inconvenienced by bringing our own bag to the store or paying 20 cents for it smile.gif
It's just depends on how the govt will present it to their own people. They can make it a call to action, a plea. Because, the bottom line is, that is for the best of everyone. We can't be a disposable society we are now forever. We'll simply run out of resources and room to put our garbage!
I'm really glad there are more and more people realizing this.
I think with our combined efforts, together we can make a difference. My mom says I am a bit naive, but I think there is nothing wrong with being a dreamer & an optimist.
smile.gif

[ulfdog]

After 12/21/12 it’s probably not going to make a difference one way or another. :(

[marina]

Originally posted by ulfdog:
After 12/21/12 it’s probably not going to make a difference one way or another. :( I am not sure I know what you mean.

[ulfdog]

Sorry Love, one of the problems with writing early in the morning and being an Aquarius. I haven’t been ignoring you; actually I was hoping maybe one of the other Komrades would fill you in.

12/21/12 is the date many people believe, that according to the Mayan and Hopi prophecies and other works like the I Ching and even Revelations, will be the end of the world, as we know it. Some believe that because of how the planets are going to be lined up that day, there will be a mass destruction of the earth and the majority of the population, especially in the northern hemisphere. While other believe that it will mean a mass change in conciseness, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. I myself am hoping for the latter, while preparing for former.

[Kelly]

I completely agree with you, Marina.

It seems nowadays every time I go to the grocery store, the 'bagger' no longer asks wheither I want paper or plastic bags, they just use plastic. If I am questioned, they ask "Is plastic OK for you?" I usually try and catch them before they start bagging in plastic. I really think plastic bags should be banned. I like the reusable bags, but I sometimes forget them at home. At home, I'm lucky if I can remember my shopping list let alone the reusable bags. haha
smile.gif

[marina]

Originally posted by Kelly:
I completely agree with you, Marina.

It seems nowadays every time I go to the grocery store, the 'bagger' no longer asks wheither I want paper or plastic bags, they just use plastic. If I am questioned, they ask "Is plastic OK for you?" I usually try and catch them before they start bagging in plastic. I really think plastic bags should be banned. I like the reusable bags, but I sometimes forget them at home. At home, I'm lucky if I can remember my shopping list let alone the reusable bags. haha
smile.gif I have a few cloth bags in the back of my car always, otherwise I forget them at home too smile.gif
and sometimes I forget to bring the bags into the store, and end up running out to the car to get the bags smile.gif

[LoganBruin]

I went to Ralph's yesterday, and they gave me a nickel for taking my own bag.

[ulfdog]

I was reading in FIVE magazine, a publication put out by our local radio station KTAO, (the worlds largest solar radio station) about unusual recyclables. The article talks about recycling things from batteries, cell phones to old foam. They even gave websites and addresses where you could find out information or you can send these recyclables. What I found intresting was that Nike Shoes has a program, Reuse-a-Shoe, where they take old shoes and turn them into things like athletic flooring and playground equipment. When I think about all the shoes I have thrown out over the years, I wish I had known years ago about this program or anything thing like it.

What I was wondering is how the other Komrades would feel about having an environmental forum added. That way we would have a spot where there could be discussions and suggestions on anything from recycling to organic gardening. Or a place where we could let each other know about things like Reuse-a-Shoe program. I just wanted to see if there would be any interest in a forum like this, especially since Marina and others are very much environmentally concerned.

:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Nick]

Sounds like a great idea to me!!!