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 Malibu says bye-bye to plastic bags! On Monday, the City Council voted to banish single-use plastic bags AND plastic-like compostable bags at all retail stores big and small. And to encourage the use of reusable bags, the Malibu City Council also directed its staff to research fees for paper bags.
In six months, grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies and city facilities will have to comply or face a fine of up to $1,000. Smaller vendors will have up to a year. Smaller retailers will get a year to de-plastic-bag their stores.
Since the ban refers to plastic bags given out at point-of-sale, it appears that the flimsier plastic bags available at produce sections of grocery stores will still be permitted.
By passing the ordinance, Malibu beat out the City of Santa Monica, which is also poised to ban plastic bags soon. The Santa Monica City Council directed its staff to draft an ordinance to ban plastic bags back in February, but has yet to actually pass the ordinance.
According to the City of Malibu's website, both plastic and compostable one-use bags were banned "since there are no Southern California facilities that can recycle the compostable types." Santa Monica, too, plans to ban compostable bags, citing both the lack of recycling facilities and the potential harm to marine life. In contrast, San Francisco's bag ban applies only to plastic bags; NoCal does have some industrial composting facilities that can break down compostable one-use bags.
Earlier: Bring Your Own Bag
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
In case you missed the news, the city of L.A. is aiming to drastically reduce its trash. The goal: A 70% recycling rate by 2015, eventually getting to zero waste within 2 decades. Doable? I hope so, because landfilling's costing us a lot of money -- and we're running out of room.
L.A.'s Zero Waste Plan, also known as SWIRP (Solid Waste Integrated Resources Plan), kicked off last August with a number of public outreach efforts. So far, we've had numerous regional workshops and two big public Zero Waste Conferences.
From those efforts, the city's come up with 12 guiding principles for the zero waste effort, which will be used to create an action plan to eliminate landfilling -- after which we'll actually start taking action. Yes, it's a very long process, a.k.a. "a 6-year stakeholder-driven planning effort."
But for now, the public's invited to a third Citywide Zero Waste conference (PDF), where said 12 guiding principles will be announced and "confirmed":
When: Saturday, May 3, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Where: The Center at Cathedral Plaza, 2nd Fl. Ballroom, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles
RSVP: Call Vikki Zale at (310) 822-2010 or email vikkizale@aol.com
In exchange for your time and input, you'll get complimentary meals and free parking -- though really, de-car-ing's recommended. Early birds can get there before the rush for an optional Zero Waste Film Festival from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the California Assembly bill that proposed a 25 cent "plastic carryout bag impact fee" on each single-use plastic shopping bag (AB 2829) died in committee. The weaker bill (AB 2058) that relied heavily on voluntary bag reduction measures, however, did make it through.
Although AB 2058 is weaker, it does allow for a per-bag fee if voluntary targets are not met. If a store fails to decrease plastic bag use by 70% by July 1, 2012, a 15 cents per bag fee would kick in.
And that fee will likely go up! According to Jessica Belsky at Heal the Bay, Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who authored AB2058, has agreed to revise the legislation to up the fee to 25 cents per bag, and to take out language that would preempt local governments from placing their own fees on plastic bags.
AB2058's now been referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. If the bill makes it through that committee, it will then go to the Assembly floor.
Get into the habit of carrying reusable bags now, to save yourself hassles later --
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
If you do one thing for this Earth Day, I'd advise this for your own sanity as well as financial benefit -- in addition to environmental goodness: Get a Bring Your Own Bag system in place once and for all, so you're never caught empty handed.
First, let me go into why this one action will prevent stress and save you money. Then I'll show you how easy it is to be bag-ready at all times.
Plastic bags are slowly becoming a relic in California. The disposables have already been banned in San Francisco and Oakland, for one. Santa Monica's well on its way to enacting its own ban. And Bakersfield, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz are considering similar measures. Even the Calif. assembly's considering a bag fee.
Besides the state and local government initiatives, there's the corporate ones. As of this Earth Day, Whole Foods will no longer offer plastic bags. IKEA will getting rid of all disposable bags, period, come August 2008. And while most grocery stores will still be saying "paper or plastic" for a while, many of these -- including Ralphs -- will still give you a nickel back for bringing your own bag.
So adapt now to prevent headaches -- and to avoid getting nickeled and dimed -- later. Here's how:
1. Put most of your reusable bags in the vehicle you use to get to and from your grocery shopping. For most of you, this will be your car. For the more intrepid of you, this'll be that trailer attached to your bike, or the "basket on wheels" type thing you roll over to your farmers' market. This vehicle needs to be where the bags "belong."
Do NOT have a spot in the house where you keep the reusable bags; not having a designated in-house spot will remind you to always "return" the bags to your vehicle after you unload your groceries.
 2. Keep one minimizable bag in your purse or other favorite bag, like a laptop bag or backpack. Organic cotton tote bags are great, but they're rather bulky, and it's the rare person who'll tote one of those around everywhere. Instead, invest in one bag that converts into a teeny object, and keep that in your purse or bag as a standard item, like a lipstick or condoms.
The one downside of these bags is that they tend to be made of synthetic materials. This is why I advise you just get one of these -- and reuse it forever and maybe even pass it down to future generations :P A few options:
flip & tumble. (above left) Made of ripstop nylon, this cute bag can be "flipped" into a cute ball-shaped object -- great for an impromptu game of catch or for juggling, if you have a couple of them.
 Envirosax. Made of polyester, Envirosax fold up into what the company describes as "the size of a piece of sushi." This is the bag that sits folded and buttoned up at the bottom of my purse. I unfurl it when I need it -- like I did today at Co-opportunity.
ChicoBags. (below left) Made of nylon, ChocoBags can be stuffed into its "integrated pouch." The bags come with a carabiner, so you can attach the pouch to your beltloop, if that look jives with your personal style. ChicoBags also notes on its website that it has a recycling program to repurposed old bags into door mats, dog beds and prayer flags -- but I can't find any info about where to send the old bags on the website.
I know the boys are gonna say they don't carry purses (though I've noticed that more of you guys do these days) and usually don't carry other bags either. I feel your pain -- and encourage you to use this awesome business idea of mine: Create a bag that folds flat into the shape of a short stack of bills, which can be fit into any regular wallet -- maybe even a recycled Jimi.
Make millions as plastic bag bans gain popularity around the world, then email and thank me --
Top photo courtesy of envirowoman
Forget to bring your own bag? That eco-sin could cost you a quarter in the future (unless you go for paper, not plastic). A California Assembly bill, if passed, would put a 25 cent "plastic carryout bag impact fee" on each single-use plastic shopping bag given out at large grocery stores and pharmacies statewide.
AB 2829, introduced by Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles), proposes using the collected fees to on litter prevention and reduction efforts. If passed, the bill "would mark the most aggressive action by any state legislature to curb the proliferation of plastic bags and limit their negative impacts on the marine environment, local economies and quality of life for millions of citizens," according to Santa Monica-based environmental organization Heal the Bay.
AB 2829 does have some competition, namely from a much weaker bill, AB 2058, introduced by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys). AB 2058 relies mostly on voluntary reduction measures -- and is quite similar to the voluntary plastic bag reduction measure that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors passed earlier this year.
Surprisingly, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors have endorsed the tougher AB 2829. Perhaps the board regrets its past decision -- or perhaps they'd like someone else to enact the rules so they don't have to personally face the wrath of the plastic bag industry....
The bill goes before the Cali Assembly's Committee on Natural Resources on Monday. Is your assemblymember on it? Mine is, and will be hearing from me asking her to vote yes. You can also email a letter of support to the committee members via Heal the Bay.
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
 Phone book haters: Let's try a collective experiment to stop Yellow Book deliveries -- because we might win this one.
After reading my post, Brad Hole -- the guy behind those eco-friendly, recycled binders, notebooks and CD covers at Sustainable Group -- sent Yellow Book a quick message via this Web form asking to be taken off the delivery list.
Kudos to Yellow Book, because Brad got an e-mail back just an hour and 15 minutes later from Cate Johnson, call center specialist, that said: Thank you for contacting Yellow Book USA. We have processed your request to be on our do not deliver list for the Seattle directory. For your records, the incident number is [number removed]. Have a good day!
Because of the fact that many phone book companies hire independent contractors who don't always stick to the delivery lists, I'm not certain that Brad's Yellow Book deliveries will really stop once and for all -- but here's hoping!
So, try the same yourself. Send a quick note to Yellow Book asking to be taken off the list. Then see if the deliveries indeed stop! I'll do an update post later asking all of you for a report back on the results of this de-phone-booking experiment.
I know most of you don't want to wait on the phone trying to get through to customer service about getting off the lists, so here are the Web forms/e-mails for some of the other companies:
Good luck!
Wow -- A bag tax really, really works! In a show of how cheap Americans really can be when something shows up as a line item on their receipts, IKEA reports that, since it started charging customers 5 cents per bag, disposable plastic bag use has gone down more than 92 percent in U.S. stores.
And now, IKEA's gonna get rid of that last 8 percent. As of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags at checkout. No, paper bags won't replace the plastic bags. Customers will need to bring their own bag, buy an IKEA reusable bag for 59 cents, or go bagless.
We all know the enviro-benefits of bagging the bag -- but I'm more interested in looking at how IKEA's benefited from this progressive de-bagging policy:
1. Get lots of press attention. IKEA's been all over the news as a progressive, enviro-conscious company due to its anti-plastic-bag program.
2. Have customers pay for your donations to nonprofits. IKEA's basically turning bag fees directly into socially conscious PR, by sending all the nickels collected to American Forests, a nonprofit focused on environmental conservation. Simply by making customers pay for something that used to be "free," IKEA now gets to brag that it's donated more than $300,000 to American Forests.
3. Sell more stuff. IKEA's making money on its reusable bags! Sure, the money from disposable plastic bags goes to American Forests, but IKEA keeps the money for its 59-cent big blue reusable shopping bags. According to IKEA, sales of these reusable bags are expected to exceed company projections by more than 10 times.
Why more companies don't follow IKEA's tactic, I don't know, especially since the anti-plastic-bag move doesn't seem to have hurt IKEA's business any. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart seems to have a new press release about another green move it's making every day -- but hasn't yet made a move bag the bag....
Top photo by Siel; bottom photo courtesy of IKEA
Green advice givers are all talking about diapers this week. Both Slate's Green Lantern and Salon's Pablo tackle the subject -- and give conflicting advice.
The Lantern says that cloth diapers are greener -- but that he uses disposables themselves due to time management issues, and will consider switching to cloth or flushable gDiapers later on.
Pablo too says cloth diapers are greener -- but is not so keen on the gDiapers -- and recommends diaper services that'll launder the dirty diapers for you.
In an earlier column, Umbra of Grist concluded that "the disposable vs. reusable diaper fight is in a stalemate for the foreseeable future," and suggests diaperless parenting -- an option Pablo deems impractical.
I'm more psyched than ever that I don't have to deal with diaper issues, but having read all these diaper articles in detail, Pablo's option sounds like the most practical green option, assuming you can afford a diaper washing service -- something you likely can do if you can afford to buy disposable diapers at a buck a pop.
Any green parents got more practical advice or stories?
Photo of baby in gDiaper by Donna D via Flickr
 How much more does 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost? Earlier this month, Green Cities California -- which includes L.A. and 10 California cities and counties -- pledged to make a complete switch to 100% post-consumer recycled copy paper -- though with no set date for finalizing the switch. I'm support the initiative, but I started wondering what the financial implications of this green decision would be.
After all, even though making post-consumer recycled paper doesn't kill trees and saves lots of energy, the eco-friendly paper market still hasn't reached the scale to make it cost-competitive with virgin paper, as I found out the hard way through my research on green business cards.
Santa Monica couldn't tell me how much more the switch to 100% post-consumer recycled paper cost the city, partly because they made the switch back in 2004. Getting an accurate number would mean accounting for inflation, paper use reduction programs, structural changes in the city, etc., making calculations difficult.
Luckily -- at least for this numbers-crunching mission -- the city of L.A. hasn't made a full switch yet. Only 30% of the paper the city of L.A. uses is 100% post-consumer recycled. So I was able to find out what the cost difference of switching the rest of that paper would be from Gerald St.Onge, who does environmentally preferred purchasing for the city L.A.
St.Onge said that 100% post-consumer recycled paper would cost about 50% more than virgin paper. In fact, the reason L.A. hasn't gone all post-consumer recycled already is due to budgetary reasons -- not due to lack of availability, the reason Shannon Parry, an environment analyst for Santa Monica's Environmental Programs Division, pointed to.
"Right now we're tying to [make up] the difference in cost by paper reduction," St.Onge said. The higher cost of 100% post-consumer recycled paper is a bit of a chicken or the egg problem. Due to the added expense, government agencies, companies, and individuals don't buy more of it. But because not enough of it is bought, the recycled paper market doesn't grow as fast in scale to bring down those prices.
Although the city of L.A. hasn't set a deadline to complete the switch too all post-consumer recycled paper, Onge said "we're committed and we're doing everything we can to change all the commodities that are being purchased into environmentally-friendly products." There's reason to be hopeful: Along with the Green Cities California initiatives, L.A. City Council approved an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing statement and program last month, committing the city to opting for eco-friendly products whenever possible.
Image courtesy of Fuji Xerox
Still stuck at the paper or plastic conundrum? Go over to MSNBC's Battle of the Bags: Paper or Plastic, and you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about the issue. This little web piece uses short surveys, videos, polls, and quizzes to exhaustively examine the bag issue -- to conclude that it's pretty much impossible to figure out whether a plastic or paper bag is better.
While Battle of the Bags doesn't push the reusable bag as strongly as I'd like -- though a montage of chic reusable bags is part of the piece -- hopefully more people will come to that conclusion after watching the piece.
One of the issues that MSNBC doesn't really cover is the fact that plastic bags wash out to the oceans and kill marine life -- which doesn't bode well, environmentally or financially, for L.A.'s tourism industry.
Battle of the Bags'll be personally useful for me, since every time I write about plastic bag bans and taxes happening around the world, I get one-sided comments and emails about how plastic bags are greener than paper bags. In the future, I'll just point them to MSNBC.
[Thanks to Jessica for the tip!]
Earlier:
Santa Monica a step closer to banning plastic bags
L.A. County's new anti-plastic bag legislation contains no ban or tax
Bring Your Own week: BYO Bag
 De-junk-mailing's becoming big business! Suddenly, the Internet's full of companies that want to get rid of your junk mail for you -- for a small fee.
However, having cleaned up my own mailbox without spending any money -- and having just written about the free ProQuo service -- I'm now wondering why anyone would willingly fork over money for a service they can get free. Of course, ProQuo just launched in Oct., while most of these for-free services launched -- a few months before that.
Still, some of these offer unique services. I've listed them from best to worst, according to my personal opinion based on the info offered on their websites. If you've used any of these services, pipe in with comments about your experience.
 41pounds.org. $41 covers you for five years; a third of that money goes to community and environmental organizations. The fee covers you even if you move, as long as it's within four years of subscribing.
 GreenDimes. $20 covers you for about a year (read on for details on the "about" part); you'll also get 10 trees planted on your behalf. Green Dimes says it'll monitor your account every month to make sure you say off the lists -- but then recommends you pay an extra $10 "after the 1st year if your junk mail returns or anytime you move." The moving part I get, but I don't understand why junk mail would return if GreenDimes is indeed monitoring mailing lists.
 Stop Junk Mail $19.95 covers you for a year; $1 of that fee goes to American Forests. However, the fee only covers you for a single year -- and probably not if you move.
CatalogEnd.com. $17 covers you for a year, sort of (read on), and the planting of one tree; 5% - 10% of CatalogEnd's profits (read: $0 if the company does not turn a profit) go to environment related charities. The fees don't end at $17: For lists that require your signature to get your name removed, this company will send you UNSTAMPED postcards (other companies usually send pre-stamped postcards) so you'll still be paying postage. In addition, if you want your name taken off more than 150 lists, you'll have to pay an additional 10 cents per list. You'll also have to pay $10 if you change addresses within the year.
My conclusion's that 41pounds.org and Green Dimes services might be worth considering -- the former because it covers you for about 5 years and could actually save you some hassles if you're planning to move, the latter because even without the junk mail reduction dealio, getting 10 trees planted for $20 is pretty sweet.
However, for most people, the free ProQuo will yield the same results for a few minutes more time.
If you really want to go the DIY route, here's the four-step plan I used to clean up my mail box. The advice remains the same, except now, it's free to get off the Direct Marketing Association's list online -- though you'll still need a valid credit card for identification purposes.
There are two types of junk mail haters. The first type want it all gone. They may wage a personal, time-consuming war against it -- or even hire companies to wage that anti-junk mail war for them. Either way, they get their mailboxes cleaned up in 4 - 12 weeks, letting unfelled trees breathe a collective green sigh of relief.
The second type are the kind that say they hate junk mail but don't actually do anything to get rid of it -- usually because there's one piece of junk mail they want to keep getting. It's amazing what people will put up with -- and what they're willing to do to the environment -- simply for a coupon for free iced tea with a pad thai order.
But enough eco-guilting: Now you can get your free iced tea and downsize your mailbox too -- easily. ProQuo, a FREE anti-junk mail website, lets you quickly opt out of -- or opt in to -- mailing lists.
ProQuo reduces all different types of junk mail, from weekly circulars to marketing lists to ValPak envelopes. All you have to do is create a profile, and you'll get a full screen of different lists you can opt out of:
For most lists, simply clicking on the "stop" button will let you ditch that mailer. But some lists do annoyingly require you to either mail in a printed form, or go to their site to input your info again. In these cases, ProQuo will give you a little "Action Required" popup that either lets you download a PDF letter you can just print or send, or gives you a link to send you to that outside site.
How is this awesome service free, you ask? Well, the key thing here is that ProQuo lets you opt IN, as well as opt out. If you click over to the catalog section, you'll see a whole lot of popular catalogs. If you simply want to opt out, you can -- but if the Victoria's Secret catalog lures you into getting more junk mail, well then you can opt in too. The opt-inners' contact info's then sent to that mag -- and ProQuo makes money in the exchange.
That said, your contact info will NOT be sent to any random magazines. To get on Vicky's list, you have to specifically select and hit "I want to start receiving this catalog" for Vicky's.
If that opt in OR out option bothers you, there's also Catalog Choice, which lets you just opt out of catalogs you don't want. However, while this site does let you get rid of catalogs at a click, Catalog Choice doesn't remove your name from general junk mail directories or get rid of any of the non-catalog flyers and mailers.
Whatever method you opt for, remember that it'll take one to three months for your mail box to really clear up. Next up: How to get rid of junk mail with even less effort than ProQuo -- for a price.
 Love the Do Not Call Registry? Wish you had a similar one for junk mail?
The good people at ForestEthics have gotten the battle against junk mail started with a petition -- addressed to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid -- calling for a Do Not Mail registry.
Junk mail's not just a daily annoyance. The unwanted stuff destroys forests and contributes to global warming. Junk mail also tends to create an eyesore in urban neighborhoods; I see supermarket fliers littering roads and alleyways all the time.
So sign the Do Not Mail registry petition. This campaign also has a tool to help you get off junk mail lists. However, the app basically asks for your contact info, then puts that info into a 9-page PDF -- each page being a letter to a different address registry -- for you to print and mail off. While somewhat handy, this app is oddly mail-and-paper intensive -- and will put you back at least a few bucks in postage costs.
To help you do this more cheaply and easily, I'll put up more posts today about what you can do to de-junk mail NOW without mailing a thing.
 Dumping e-waste isn't good for you or the environment -- which is why we should take old computers and TVs to an e-waste collection center. But what happened to reusing things and fixing things when they break? Is it possible to REDUCE the amount of e-waste we create?
While some old appliances just need to be replaced -- old refrigerators, for example, suck up way more energy than newer, energy-efficient ones -- other goods often get tossed simply because they break and we can't find any way to fix them. After all, companies make more money right now selling us new stuff instead of helping us fix existing things.
This is pissing off many environmentalists. Beth of Fake Plastic Fish, for example, discovered her HP monitor couldn't be fixed -- and after complaining to HP, took her rant about "the issue of planned obsolescence of electronics" to the Electronics Take Back Coalition, a group that's trying to get companies to take responsibility for recycling their e-products.
And now, the Electronics Take Back Coalition's collecting "Dead Gadget Stories"! Basically, they're looking for stories "showing clearly how products simply can’t be fixed or upgraded, because of clear choices made by the product designers."
Tried to fix a DVD player, only to be told it was unfixable? Then write up your story and send it to stories@deadgadgets.com with this info:
- Make and model
- Year bought and whether it's under warranty.
- Why it’s dead. (Doesn’t turn on, can’t upgrade it to run certain software, etc.)
- Steps taken to try to fix it, or cost to fix it -- in all their eco-obsessive details.
- Picture of the dead gadget (make sure the manufacturer name / logo's visible) for a soon-to-come dead gadget gallery.
The info'll be compiled to further Electronics Take Back Coalition's e-waste responsibility campaigns. If you send something in, feel free to share it in the comments too!
Extrapolating a bit -- I think there's a growing market for people who can fix electronics. In Wired magazine, Clive Thompson points out how fixing and reusing things can be a political act: "We've lost our Everyman ability to build, maintain, and repair the devices we rely on every day. And that's making it harder to solve the country's nastiest problems, like oil dependence, climate change, and global competitiveness."
While Thompson is referring specifically to personal fix-it skills, the problem goes beyond individuals to encompass our entire communities' inability to fix things. After all, not everyone has to be able to fix a computer monitor -- but it'd be great if every town had someone who could, and who could make a viable living at it. And it'd be even better if our TVs were MADE to be fixed, and if fixing cost less than buying new ...
For now, I try to upgrade electronics only when absolutely necessary. I've decided to keep my old LG flip phone this year, instead of upgrading to a new, sleeker one for free (provided I extend my contract). iPhones look cool, but I really spend enough time mucking around on the Web already, sans an ultra-portable do-everything celly.
I do, BTW, have a great recommendation for a local guy who'll come by to fix your printer, if you have a broken one.
Photo by David J via Flickr
That's the L.A. River above, awash with plastic bags after rain. The photo's a part of Guardian UK's 8-picture series on plastic bags, ugging up places from China to Somalia to everywhere in between.
What are we doing in L.A.? The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted for a voluntary program to reduce the use of plastic bags -- A disappointing move, because voluntary programs in other places have proved to be ineffective.
In contrast, the City of Santa Monica voted to draft an ordinance banning plastic bags outright. The ordinance now needs to get passed and implemented, but hopefully by 2009, we won't see any more plastic bags coming out of stores in this city by the beach. After all, plastic blight on the beaches isn't going help attract tourist dollars --
Write your city councilmember to voice your support for a ban on plastic bags in your city. Angelenos: Locate your councilmember by going here, scrolling down, then putting in your addy under "My Neighborhood" in the right column.
Photo by David McNew/Getty Images
Santa Monica will likely see fewer plastic bags floating around its streets and beaches soon. Last night, the Santa Monica City Council voted to draft an ordinance banning one-use plastic and biodegradable plastic-like bags in city businesses.
All retail locations in Santa Monica, regardless of type or size, will have to go plastic bag free and offer reusable bags for sale instead. The ban would apply only to the plastic bags given out at point-of-sale, not the flimsier bags found in the produce or bulk sections of supermarkets. Paper bags -- which the staff pointed out is not a significant source of marine pollution -- will still be allowed -- but the city council asked its staff to come back with recommendations on charging a fee on these bags.
The plastic bag ban had more or less unanimous support from both the members of the City Council and the community members who spoke at the meeting. Many spoke about marine pollution caused by plastic bags -- from getting tangled in them while surfing to seeing the eyesore crated by them on the beaches.
In contrast to the plastic bag ban, the paper bag tax raised a number of questions and concerns including outright opposition from Council member Robert Holbrook, who said "I just think they out to be free." Some felt that the paper bag tax should not be charged for food take-out, fast food places, or grocery deliveries -- businesses where reusable bags are not an easy solution. In addition, questions remained as to what the minimum charge per paper bag would be, and where the money would go.
Staff recommendations regarding those questions -- as well as a drafted ordinance for a plastic bag ban -- will come back to the City Council. Once the plastic ban is drafted and passed, businesses will likely have at least a 6-month transition period before the ordinance is allowed to take effect.
Santa Monica's anti-plastic bag ordinance will be much stricter than the one passed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors last month, which called for a voluntary effort. You can watch the City Council proceedings here, or read the staff recommendations for the ordinance here.
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
This week's eco-topic: Green workplace
Stuffing one-side used paper into the manual feed tray worked for reducing my own paper use in the office, but what about convincing others to reduce and reuse too? Oscar Madrigal, who works at New Economics for Women, has had some great successes reducing paper consumption office-wide. Here, he shares his best paper-saving tips:
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Put Xs on one side of used paper and pile the sheets into a noticeable stack to let people know they can be reused for office memos and meeting agendas.
Opt -- and encourage others to opt for -- double sided copies. I've been to workshops and conferences with environmental organizations that don't double side copies of things. Don't get called out -- Hit the double sided option on the copy machine.
Turn old letterhead into scratch pads. Minute Print, the company that printed our stationary, would take our old letterhead and make scratch pads of out of them for us to use around the office for notes.
Donate annual old annual reports and brochures to local arts organizations, or to a school teacher. For many companies and nonprofits, annual reports have great pictures of people. Kids can use them to make a collage; it's a great way to recycle."
Convince people to bring their own cups/mugs/bottles for water/coffee/tea. This helped to reduce the consumption of paper cups we use.
Other fun green workplace tips:
BYO flatware. I bring my own utensils to work for lunch time, so as to limit the amount of plastic forks and knives I use. A couple people caught on with this. A friend of mine was able to convince an employer to just buy a couple of sets of metal utensils for the lunch room.
Take public transit to happy hour and fun activities. At my old job, we took a trip to Pershing Square to go ice skating as an office activity after work one year. I and some other co-workers convinced everyone to take public transit to Pershing Square. For many, it was their first trip on the Red Line.
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Got your own easy-to-implement green tips for the workplace? Share them in the comments.
Photo by Cathy Ma via Flickr
Forget "paper or plastic." Santa Monica residents might soon be hearing "paper, period -- and you'll have to pay for that." That's right -- If the Santa Monica city council takes its staff recommendations, both plastic AND plastic-like biodegradable bags will be banned, as will non-recycled paper bags. Paper bags with more than 40 percent or more post-consumer content would be allowed -- but you'd have to pay a tax for them.
Santa Monica's bag ban and tax initiative comes on the heels of L.A. county's less-than-successful anti-plastic-bag effort, which ended up being neither a ban or a tax, but simply just a voluntary reduction measure. That result disappointed many L.A.-area environmentalists. But now, the "Ban the Bag" fight's gone to individual cities -- and Santa Monica's considering one of the toughest measures at its city council meeting next Tuesday.
The Santa Monica city staff recommends drafting a tough ordinance to ban and tax bags. Here's the skinny on the staff's recommendations:
- No free bags, period. The point is to discourage one-use bags and encourage reusable bags.
- Plastic bags banned at all retail locations in the city.
- Biodegradable one-use bags banned at all retail locations in the city, because these bags "present many of the same environmental litter and marine environment problems as plastic bags."
- Paper bags that contain old growth fiber, or are not 100% recyclable, or contain less than 40% post consumer recycled content banned at all retail locations.
- Recyclable paper bags that contain at least 40% post consumer recycled content AND don't contain any old growth fiber allowed FOR A FEE.
- All affected stores must provide reusable carryout bags for sale and, with assistance from the City, promote their sale and use.
To be clear, this bag and tax ordinance, once drafted and passed, would apply only to bags at the point of sale (at the cash register). The ban and tax would NOT apply to those flimsy bags in the produce or bulk items section, for example.
Enviro-group Heal the Bay has put together a fact page on the many benefits of getting rid of the plastic bag. The group's also mobilizing enviro-activists to show up to the city council meeting:
When: Tues., February 19. Council proceedings begin 7 p.m.; Consideration of bag measure estimated to begin 8 p.m.
Where: Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St., Santa Monica
Even if the city council votes with the staff recommendations, the ban
/ tax won't happen anytime soon; this council meeting would simply
allow for the drafting of an ordinance. Once drafted, the ordinance
needs to be passed -- and staff recommends at least a 6-month
transition period before the ordinance is allowed to take effect.
Santa Monica peeps -- Be there! To help you prep, here's the Santa Monica City Council Agenda, and the details of the city staff's recommendations on the anti-plastic bag ordinance.
Top photo by Siel; bottom photo courtesy of envirowoman
Your eco-questions answered:
Question: Can you share your tips for messy situations when plastic bags have been helpful in the past? For example, how do you dispose of wet garbage, particularly with food? What do you line your garbage cans with? What do you put your produce in at the market or farmer's market (like a bunch of green beans)? Sarah
Answer: First, congrats on trying to de-plastic-bag your life. The conundrums you mention are common ones -- though with somewhat complicated solutions, mainly because we're so used to using plastic for all these tasks you mentioned. Still, de-plasticking gets easier once you add a little creativity and out-of-the-bag thinking!
Theoretically, excising plastic bags from the home would be easy. After all, Whole Foods and other grocery stores stock biodegradable bags as alternatives! But aside from people's general unwillingness to pay for bio bags when free plastic bags are readily available at the grocery checkout (though starting Earth Day, Whole Foods will no longer offer these), these bio bags apparently don't hold up well. Karina of Tiny Choices found that "the slightest amount of moisture wrecked havoc with the bag and it fell apart straight-away."
So biodegradable bags aren't the answer for your wet garbage or produce. Instead, here are my current solutions for your conundrums:
The wet garbage issue: Have you considered composting? Composting will handily get rid of almost all your wet garbage, thereby solving your conundrum altogether. If you have a yard of any sort, I'd start a compost.
However, if you live in an apartment like me, composting's tough, though not impossible. So, this is what I do: Save the small plastic bags that inevitably crawl into my place -- The bags that hold loaves of bread, the bags inside cereal boxes, and the like -- and use them as little garbage bags. No, these will not line your existing trash cans comfortably like some plastic bags might -- but they will handily hold your wet garbage without leaking. And because they're small, they'll encourage you to take out your garbage more often (something I used to have trouble doing).
Since you only asked about the wet garbage, I assume that you already have the good eco-sense NOT to use bags for your recyclables. Since these can just be thrown into a trash bin without getting things messy, there's no need for bags; just put the trash directly into the trash bin, then dump the trash bin directly into the blue bin.
 As for the produce issue: I do reuse plastic bags for some items, such as green beans and strawberries. I talked about this in a little more detail in my "How to work the farmers market, zero-waste style" post -- and I'm seeing more and more people bringing their own little plastic bags to the farmers' market.
Occasionally, I'll take a tupperware container to the farmers' market, which has the added benefit of making sure strawberries and other soft fruits don't get smooshed. However, due to the added weight of these containers, they're best used for produce sold in those little green baskets (i.e. strawberries or cherry tomatoes), not for items that require weighing (i.e. green beans).
Photo courtesy of envirowoman; bottom photo by Siel
Carbon footprint calculators are so 2007... Now we have water footprint calculators! H2O Conserve gives you an estimate of how much water you use via a short quiz. (via Utne)
Answer a few questions about your living situations and personal habits -- shower length, general diet, etc. -- and voila, you get your own personal water footprint score.
Post-quiz, H2O Conserve offers some water-saving tips. But unfortunately, those tips are just general tips, not personal tips based on the answers you gave to the quiz. If your score's high though, these tips would be a good place to start.
My water footprint, according to H2O Conserve, is 538.89 gallons per day, compared to the average American's 1,189.3 gallons. What's your score?
L.A. County chickened out on a plastic bag ban, but the city of Oakland's fighting hard to make its ban happen. Oakland passed a plastic ban last year that was supposed to go into effect last week on Jan. 18. Unfortunately, the plastic bag industry sued, delaying things.
So on Monday, Oakland's city council's holding a pro-bag-ban press conference; all Oakland peeps are encouraged to attend. The very next day, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch will consider the lawsuit. Good luck Oakland!
In related bag news, the L.A. Times has more details on China's plastic bag ban that goes into effect June 1. China's new bag rules are actually a combo of a ban and a tax. The ban applies only to the thinnest plastic bags, which has some people complaining about the flimsy rules. Thicker ones -- which are supposed to be easier to recycle and dispose of -- are exempt from the ban BUT must be SOLD, not given free, to customers.
The cities and counties and countries that have enacted plastic bag related laws and ordinances all have slightly different rules and regulations. If you're interested in the nitty gritties, check out Heal the Bay's roundup. The one silver lining in L.A. County's delay of bag bans is that, since we've chosen to be followers instead of leaders, we'll at least be able to learn from the successes and failures of similar programs before enacting our own ban or tax.
Photo by Mike Innocenzi via Flickr
Feel like the only person toting your own to-go mug? The Mug Project's here to give you some love. A couple guys in Jamaica Plains, Mass. started this social site for mug-toters living the bring-your-own lifestyle.
Visitors can commiserate by sharing their mug stories (I'm wondering if these are actually going to be interesting to read), or more practically, add some local coffee shops that offer a discount for bringing your own mug to the Mug Project Partner Map.
The project even has a cute little video, in which a guy "cheats" on his reusable mug with disposables:
Find more videos like this on The Mug Project
Join in the fun and upload your mug shot --
(h/t Rodney)
Why'd the environmentalists lose the plastic bag fight yesterday, with business interests successfully lowering plastic bag reduction goals by 5%? L.A. Times follows the money in an article today: Jean-Paul Renaud reports that the California Grocers Assn. -- one of the main groups pushing for lower standards -- hired and paid lobbying firm Rose & Kindel more than $33,000 by December.
I wish Heal the Bay had more money. The nonprofit got lots of people to wear "Ban the Bag" buttons and rally the hearing yesterday but still lost out to CGA's powerful lobby. Why is it that we enviros are always so cash-poor! :P
Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, weighed in on the supervisors' final decision on the plastic bag in a comment on my last post: "Bottom line, (no surprise here), a majority of the Board chose to back the plastics manufacturers and the Grocers Association over environmental protection."
There is, however, good news too. While big bad grocery chains still remain plastic-addicted, Whole Foods is banishing the plastic bag from all its stores, with the goal to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day, April 22. The stores will still offer recycled paper bags -- as well as sell reusable bags. One type is made of 80% recycled plastic bottles and costs just 99 cents.
Plus, the fight to ban the bag continues in individual cities. More on that soon. In the meantime, bring your own bag!
In related news: Santa Monica's ban on foam plastic (a.k.a. Styrofoam) and other non-recyclable take-out containers goes into effect Feb. 9. Noticed changes at your favorite Santa Monica restaurant? One local blogger notes California Chicken Cafe made the switch to biodegradables -- but wasn't particularly happy about it.
L.A. County as a whole is supposed to be looking into a foam container ban too. According to the L.A. Times, the ban was proposed in May 2007, but a study on the issue is still pending. And guess what -- the Plastic Food Service Packaging Group's hired Rose & Kindel too: "Through September 2007, county records show that the company had spent $65,500 trying to influence the county's policy."
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
Many environmentalists thought enviro-org Heal the Bay was pushing for a ban on plastic bags. Well, this may be true in an abstract sense, but in reality, Heal the Bay agreed to much, MUCH less with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.
Yes, Heal the Bay pushed environmentalists not only to attend today's hearing, but to show up an hour early to rally on the steps of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration wearing "Ban the Bag" buttons. But what, exactly, were the stakes?
What Heal the Bay wanted at the hearing: A VOLUNTARY 35% reduction of plastic bag use by 2010, followed by a VOLUNTARY 70% reduction by 2013. This was in the original legislation put in front of the Board of Supervisors.
What big biz wanted at the hearing: The same VOLUNTARY goals, except 5% lower targets -- 30% by 2010, and 65% by 2013. This was in a proposed amendment -- put forth by supervisors Don Knabe and Michael D. Antonovich -- to the aforementioned legislation.
Both sides agreed that if the percentage goals weren't reached, a plastic bag ban would kick in.
In essence, the entire reason Heal the Bay called environmentalists to rally was over a 5% difference in VOLUNTARY reduction goals.
Surprised? You're not alone. At the hearing, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky kicked off the post-public-comment discussion on this issue by saying that he was surprised that Heal the Bay agreed to a package that was less than a ban. "If it was up to me, there would be a ban on plastic bags," Yaroslavsky said. (below: The crowd at the hearing. Anti-bag peeps are in red)
Of course, Heal the Bay's agreement to a 35%/70% dealio didn't stop biz groups from pushing for further concessions. The California Grocers Assn., L.A. Chamber of Commerce, Valley Industry & Commerce Assn., and other less-than-green businesses and orgs said they supported the plastic bag legislation -- WITH the Knabe-Antonovich amendment. Some went so far as to push for even more watering down of the rules, saying they supported "attainable goals."
Many environmentalists and enviro groups spoke out too, citing economic, environmental and quality-of-life reasons for banning the bag. Santa Monica Baykeeper, Green Ambassadors, Earth Resource Foundation, Friends of Ballona Wetlands, Ballona Creek Renaissance, Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, and even individual bird lovers ("Put a face, or if you will, a beak, on that issue") put in their two cents. Some leaders in the Jewish religious community also spoke up about what they called this "moral and religious" issue. And green business people -- from Chico Bags to Greenopia -- made a business case for getting rid of plastic bags (you may think plastic bags are free, but you pay tax dollars through the nose to clean up the mess that stuff makes).
However, most of these people argued for an outright plastic bag ban, which wasn't even on the agenda. Heal the Bay was one of the few enviro groups that stayed on-agenda, arguing for the legislation WITHOUT the Knabe-Antonovich amendment.
Was this 5% really worth getting all worked up over? I mean, Heal the Bay made a helluva lot of concessions behind closed doors -- and didn't make a stink about it! Then suddenly, the enviro-nonprofit got into a tizzy when 35% and 70% got whittled down by a mere 5% each.
Of course, I would've liked to see the higher percentages go through. Yaroslavsky questioned the California Grocers rep as to why her org felt 65% was so much more achievable than 70% (the rep, after calling the 70% arbitrary, had no reason as to why 65% wasn't just as arbitrary; she simply said a lower number would be easier to "get consensus" on), noted sarcastically that "if you set the bar low enough, we can all meet the goals," and concluded that he'd "prefer to set the bar higher."
And of course, I can see why Heal the Bay wasn't happy with the turn of events. Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, said at the hearing that his org agreed to the original legislation only grudgingly, while holding its nose. Most of his commentary, in fact, seemed to support a ban more than the legislation. "No one has successfully used recycling to solve this problem," he said, noting that only 5% of plastic bags get recycled.
Apparently, this amendment with its 5% extra in concessions was the last straw -- never mind that this detail seems negligible compared to the previous concessions Heal the Bay made. Supervisor Gloria Molina said she didn't understand "this lousy 5% that this big debate's about." And in some ways, I agree.
As to how this 5% rift occurred between Heal the Bay and biz interests? Details remained unclear. While the amendment was put on the agenda last minute, the California Grocers Assn. said it had been pushing for 65% since November; L.A. County Dept. of Public Works concurred, but with the caveat that at the time, other options -- i.e. the possibility of a ban -- were the main points of discussion.
And apparently, Supervisor Yvonne Burke called a meeting about the amendment with all sides last week. Her take from that meeting was that all parties, including Heal the Bay, agreed to the Knabe-Antonovich amendment. Gold disagreed, saying Heal the Bay never agreed to this concession, and that the org sent strongly-worded e-mails just an hour and a half after the meeting reiterating their opposition. However, Gold wasn't at the meeting -- and Burke said that Heal the Bay peeps who DID attend DID agree to the amendment. What actually went down at that meeting, only the actual attendees can tell.
So that's how the sides got drawn. Burke said she felt burned by what she saw as Heal the Bay's about-face regarding the amendment. And of course, Knabe and Antonovich, having authored the amendment, supported it.
And that's how it went down. Burke, Knabe and Antonovich voted to include the amendment (Molina and Yaroslavsky voted against). And then the amended legislation was passed (Molina's vote was inaudible; the other four supervisors said yea).
It was all a bit disappointing. On the way home, after getting off the Big Blue Bus rapid 10, I stopped to buy some wine. After all, I had my reusable bag with me -- and it felt sadly empty. Beelining my way to the wine section, I overheard this convo at the cash register:
"Would you like a bag?"
"Um -- sure!"
Then I got home to a press release from Heal the Bay, with this headline: "L.A. Sets Bad Precedent With Plastic Bag Law." The press release says the decision marks a "significant blow to the Southland environment and economy," and alleges that "the board voted to protect the interests of the polluters." The whole thing's strange, considering the fact that Heal the Bay would've been saying exactly the opposite if the board had voted against the little amendment. Does a mere 5% more in VOLUNTARY reductions make the difference between a good precedent and a bad one?
[Previously: Today's plastic bag hearing: No, it wasn't about a ban or a tax and The Skinny on L.A. County's new anti-plastic bag legislation]
Photo by Siel
So the plastic bag hearing at the LA County Board of Supervisors meeting today wasn't actually about banning the bag. And the final decision made doesn't require any changes, really, until July 2010. Still, the fate of plastic bags in LA is more complicated than that. The skinny on the legislation that was passed:
- Stores (more accurately, stores bigger than 10,000 square feet that use plastic bags a lot) will employ voluntary efforts to reduce plastic bag use. The goal: 30% reduction by 2010, 65% reduction by 2013.
- If these reduction goals aren't met, an automatic plastic bag ban kicks in. The earliest a ban could go into effect: July 2010.
No, it's not all bad news -- if you're willing to just focus on 2013. I mean, the 30% reduction can be achieved without any tough measures -- and really, it's just 30%. The 65% reduction will be tougher to meet without more serious effort -- i.e. a bag tax -- so stores will either need to take serious measures themselves or face a bag ban -- 5+ years from now.
Think this legislation looks soft compared to, say, San Francisco's plastic bag ban? I'm with you. Next: Some deets on why L.A.'s anti-plastic bag legislation's so watered down, along with deets about the hearing itself.
Update: Why not a ban?: Details on the anti-plastic bag hearing
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
I hear NPR hyped it, and I know TV crews showed up, but the much ballyhooed plastic bag hearing today wasn't actually about banning the plastic bag -- or even about taxing it.
"If China Can Ban The Plastic Bag, Why Can't We?" read the email headline from enviro-group Green Ambassadors urging environmentalists to show up to the LA County Board of Supervisors hearing. "Plastic Bag Ban decision by LA County Supervisors," screamed an email from a Greenopia activist-employee.
But the hearing wasn't about a ban.
A big crowd showed up to the pre-hearing rally on the steps of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, wearing red, waving posters, and sporting "Ban the Bag" buttons.
But the hearing wasn't about banning the bag.
The line was so long that I waited 35 minutes to get through security (the line ahead of me, above). Post-security gate, I finally sat down to take in this hearing -- which wasn't about banning the plastic bag.
Alright -- What the hearing WAS about: A quibble over the goals for VOLUNTARY plastic bag reduction efforts. Basically, the question came down to whether big stores should aim to reduce plastic bag use by 30% or 35% by 2010.
On the 30% side was the California Grocers Association and other business interests. On the 35% was Heal the Bay and other enviro orgs, plus red-shirted individual environmentalists.
Guess who won! I'll give you a hint: It wasn't Heal the Bay.
Yep, we're stuck with the same old "voluntary plastic ban reduction effort," aka the status quo, aka nothing -- until at least July 2010.
More in a bit.
Update: The Skinny on L.A. County's new anti-plastic bag legislation
Photos by Siel
A disposable plastic bag ban -- or tax -- was supposed to come up for vote at the LA County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. But now, this eco-initiative's hit a snafu -- and environmentalists are planning a rally!
Why? The supervisors are trying to water down the goals to reduce plastic bag pollution. Jessica Belsky of Heal the Bay describes the situation thusly:
Our agreement as of Tuesday with several Board of Supervisors’ offices was that reduction and recycling efforts need to reach 35% by 2010 and 70% by 2013; if these reduction goals are not met the Board would consider a bag ban. The County is unfortunately proposing to now further reduce these goals. Because of Heal the Bay’s opposition to this additional weakening, the Board may AGAIN postpone a vote on this critical decision.
The County’s latest proposal is simply greenwashing and only does lipservice to the blight and environmental damage caused by plastic bags. In the past few weeks, China, Australia, and cities throughout California have proposed or adopted plastic bag bans. It’s a sad day when we have to look to China for environmental leadership.
As you can imagine, Heal the Bay and other enviro-organizations and individuals aren't happy about it. Thus, all are invited to attend a rally on the stairs outside the Board of Supervisors hearing room -- then to attend the hearing.
When: Tuesday, January 22. Rally at noon, board meeting at 1 pm
Where: Rally on the stairs on Temple Ave. outside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration; Board meeting in 383 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.
Info: Wear red to match other activists, and bring a reusable bag to show your solidarity.
Barring undue delays at the appointment I have with my doc that morning, I shall be there, reusable tote in hand. Join me!
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
Tired of seeing plastic bags littering our streets? Don't like millions of your tax dollars spent on landfilling discarded plastic bags, cleaning up dirty oceans, and de-clogging drains? Then show up at a Jan. 22 hearing of Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors hearing on whether to require a reduction in one-use plastic bags.
When: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22
Where: 383 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.
On the agenda is a discussion of a number of options to reduce plastic bag use. One option is an outright ban on plastic bags; the enviro-nonprofit Heal the Bay has a petition supporting this option.
Others prefer a bag tax. An opinion piece in the L.A. Times points out that a ban on plastic bags creates a hidden tax, because stores pass on to consumers the higher costs of plastic bag alternatives, such as biodegradable bags. A bag tax, in contrast, would affect only consumers who use plastic bags. Moreover, a simple switch to a biodegradable bag still supports a one-use, disposable bag habit, while a per-bag fee encourages reusable bag use.
Of course, implementing a bag tax isn't as simple as it may seem. Few people realize that municipalities aren't allowed to put a fee on plastic bags, thanks to an odd provision in a 2006 bill intended to encourage recycling plastic bags. At the Jan. 22 hearing, the supervisors are expected to vote on a motion calling on the Legislature to repeal that provision, as well as impose a statewide fee on plastic bags.
In California, we're already behind San Francisco and Oakland, which have plastic bag bans. More recently, China and Australia have announced similar anti-plastic bag measures.
So attend the hearing and let your voice be heard. What would you prefer: a bag ban or a bag tax?
Photo courtesy of envirowoman
Every Sunday, help me turn fugly old stuff into stylish green stuff. Or at least try to.
 From both an environmental and economic standpoint, opting for rechargeable batteries makes a lot of sense: long-lasting products that mean less trash and less hassle over time, especially because throwing batteries into the black bin is illegal now. Recently, though, I found out about Battery Xtender (right), a gadget that recharges alkaline batteries. Which left me wondering: Why would one buy alkaline batteries and to recharge them, as opposed to simply buying rechargeable batteries?
Granted, rechargeable batteries are more expensive than alkaline ones. A four-pack of Duracell AA rechargeable batteries runs $12.79 at Staples.com, compared with just $4.79. Still, that means that a mere three recharges will make up for the extra initial investment in rechargeables.
And even if one invests $39.99 to buy a Battery Xtender, recharging alkaline batteries appears to be a tricky task. Commenters at Make Blog, for example, note that you have to remember to recharge the batteries BEFORE they run out or the process won't work, and that only a small number of recharges are possible per battery. More scary is the potential that recharging alkaline batteries can cause an explosion, though Battery Xtender says it has resolved that issue.
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Malibu says bye-bye to plastic bags! On Monday, the City Council voted to banish single-use plastic bags AND plastic-like compostable bags at all retail stores big and small. And to encourage the use of reusable bags, the Malibu City Council also directed its staff to research fees for paper bags. 
