The Washington DC disposable bag fee we told you about has been in effect for two months now, and we thought we’d write a quick follow up. As people adjust to the new five-cent fee, shoppers are assembling a wardrobe of bags that are functional, fashionable or both. They are getting used to bringing their own, even if they have to rush back to their cars to retrieve them. Many are buying reusable bags at store registers.
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Washington DC Plastic Bag Fee Working
Baltimore Explores Plastic Bag Bans and Fees
Lawmakers in Baltimore are considering two bills aimed at heading off the proliferation of plastic bag litter around the city. One bill would ban grocery stores, convenience stores, and fast-food chains from giving customers their merchandise in plastic bags. Violators would be fined $250 for a first offense up to $1,000 for three or more offenses in a six-month period. The other bill would require merchants to levy a 25-cent fee on every plastic bag dispensed at carryout. Exceptions would be granted for bagging up fresh fish and meat, candy, cooked foods, dairy products, fruits and nuts and ice.
This isn’t the council’s first attempt to cut down on plastic bag litter, but supporters note the city is facing a state and federal mandate to do something about the trash littering Baltimore’s harbor, and plastic grocery and take-out bags are a big part of the mess.
Celebrate Mother Earth With Green Giveaways and Promotions
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is Thursday, April 22, 2010. Demonstrate your organization’s environmental commitment with products that promote your company’s message while helping to keep Mother Earth clean. Need some ideas?
Do Not Put Plastic Bags In Curbside Recyling Bins
Bob Cappadona manages the fifth-largest recycling facility in the United States: Casella Waste’s materials recovery facility in Charlestown, Massachusetts. That’s where more than 30 area municipalities bring their curbside recycling for processing.
Cappadonna says the biggest issue he has to deal at his facility is what he calls “plastic bag contamination. Single-use plastic grocery bags can clog the automatic sorting machines used to make recycling financially feasible. The bags are such a problem that sometimes Cappadonna has to shut down his 700-ton a day process so employees wielding knives can climb in to the huge machines to cut errant bags out—a delay that can take hours.
Wal Mart Shows Its Green Side
Wal-Mart’s greening up three of its Northern California stores. According to The Sacramento Bee, the move is part of an experiment to ease customers into the bring-your-own-bag habit as the huge retailer attempts to reduce its global waste. If they forget bags, they can buy reusable bags from Wal-Mart in two sizes, for 15 cents and 50 cents. The company is also training checkers on how to fill reusable bags to capacity.
The effort is part of the company’s Plastic Bag Initiative, which aims to reduce plastic bag waste at its stores worldwide 33% by 2013. The company says the effort would help it avoid producing 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and prevent the consumption of 678,000 barrels of oil every year.
Stephen Colbert Versus Captain Charles Moore
On January 6th , I saw a great interview on The Colbert Report. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, Stephen Colbert is the host and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series on Comedy Central. I am a huge fan of his and the show is hilarious.
Colbert’s guest was Captain Charles Moore. He’s the person who stumbled onto the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is believed to be the world’s largest dump. Plastic debris from the world over makes its way into waterways, where it’s carried out to sea and trapped in swirling ocean currents, thereby forming a trash dump in the North Pacific that’s twice the size of Texas.
Attention Maine Retailers and Grocers: We Have Your Bags!
Bulletin Bag [.com], a Maine-based supplier of custom printed reusable totes and bags, is proud to offer official “Got Your Bags Maine” reusable shopping bags!
If you are a Maine retailer who already sells reusable bags (or is considering selling reusable bags), join Got Your Bags Maine in promoting awareness and single-use paper and plastic bag reduction in Maine. For a limited time, Bulletin Bag [.com] is offering some of our favorite reusable bags at reduced pricing for Maine retailers and grocers.
Bags feature the official Got Your Bags Maine logo on one side of the bag, and you can choose to add your store logo or custom messaging to the other side. Choose from one of these great bags currently on special:
The Post Holiday Rubbish Mountain: Trash or Recyclable?
The holiday season brings joy…and a substantial amount of waste. Have a green holiday—know what parts of your post-gift trash mountain are recyclable. You may be pleasantly surprised!
Wrapping Paper: Wrapping paper is fun, but it is generally produced with a lot of chemical dyes that contribute to water pollution. Although you can put some wrapping paper in the recycling bin, the heavy inks downgrade the quality of the paper.
What’s your best bet for recycling-friendly wrapping paper?
Can You Go A Day Without A Plastic Bag?
Looking for ways bring your community together through a reusable bag promotion? Try engaging your community, city, county or state in an event like Heal the Bay’s A Day Without A Bag.
More than 50 locations throughout Los Angeles County are giving away nearly 20,000 reusable bags on December 17, 2009 as part of the third annual “A Day Without a Bag,” which urges consumers to forego environmentally harmful single-use plastic grocery bags and paper bags in favor of reusable totes.
The event, organized by environmental group Heal the Bay, is sponsored by the City and County of Los Angeles. Dozens of community groups will be conducting reusable bag giveaways and grassroots education for consumers and free reusable shopping bags will be available to patrons of high-profile retail centers throughout the region.
Green Up Your Holidays!
According to Planet Green:
2,000: Christmas trees planted per acre on average at Christmas tree farms.
18: People who get their daily oxygen requirement from one acre of Christmas trees.
10: Years it takes a Christmas tree to mature enough to be cut.
In light of these statistics, we think it’s a good time to stop and think about ways in which we can lessen our impact on Mother Earth this season.
1. Christmas Trees
Though the use of pesticides on Christmas trees has declined by 50 percent over the last decade, many are still sprayed. Look for trees that were grown using sustainable methods and without pesticides. These sellers are usually either certified organic by the Department of Agriculture or are members of Certified Naturally Grown. If you choose to have a vendor cut trees and set up shop on a convenient street corner for your perusal, make sure the trees come from a local farm.
