Bag Monster Busters

Bag Monster vs Bag Monster Busters on steps of San Francisco City Hall

2008-02-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

It was a clash of Good and Evil! Have you confronted the bag monster in your home yet? Your Bag Monster could be lurking under your kitchen sink, in a closet or in a drawer. Look it square in it's big googly eyes, stand up tall and tell 'em, "I'm a Bag Monster Buster and this planet isn't big enough for the two of us. You're getting recycled Bag Monster!" You don't need to feed the monster one more day! Replace your Bag Monster with a reusable bag.

Plastic Bag Fact Sheet

2008-02-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

This is a great fact sheet about plastic bags. However, paper bags are still a drag, they increase demand for trees to be cut down. Solution? Bring a reusable ChicoBag

DON’T THINK OF A PLASTIC BAG!
An action by Green Sangha

A love affair with plastic

Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags per year.[1] This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth. And the number is rising.[2]

Californians use 27.5 billion plastic bags each year – enough to circle the earth over 348 times.[3] This is equivalent to about 766 disposable plastic bags per person per year.)

Americans used 2.4 million tons of LDPE (low-density polyethylene) for bags, sacks, and wraps in 2000. Only 4.3% of this material was recovered after use, according to the US EPA. In the United States, 96% of groceries use plastic bags and 7% offer only plastic.[4] Fewer than 5 percent of US shoppers use canvas, cotton, or mesh bags.[5]

What does it matter?

Plastic items of all kinds present a significant and costly form of litter, pollution, and waste. Plastic litter on California streets, beaches, and parkways is more than just an aesthetic blight. Eventually most non-degradable plastic litter will find its way into the storm drain system and into the marine environment. Even plastic that gets “thrown away” does not always make it to the landfill, but rather gets diverted by wind or improper handling.

Why pick on plastic bags?
Single-use bags use up natural resources and energy. Plastic bags are made from polyethylene. Polyethylene comes from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. When one ton of plastic bags are reused or recycled, the energy saved is equal to 11 barrels of oil. An estimated 3 million barrels of oil are required to produce the 27.5 billion plastic bags used annually in California. Only a few plastic carry-out bags use recycled content; most of those contain only around 5% recycled material.

Plastic bags are indestructible. Plastic bags take between 20 and 1000 years to break down in the environment. Even when they do break down they are not really gone. Plastic bags do not bio-degrade. They simply break apart into ever smaller pieces, eventually forming “plastic dust.” No matter how large or small they are, plastic bits are not digestible by any creature on land, in the air, or under the sea. We are literally choking the planet with products which cannot re-enter the life cycle.

Plastic bags and packaging are killing marine life. More than 1 million birds, more than 100,000 whales, seals and turtles, and countless fish worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish every year. These deaths occur through entanglement, suffocation, and starvation by ingestion. A Minke whale found on a beach in Normandy in April of 2002 had approximately 2 pounds of plastic bags and packaging in its digestive tract.

Plastic is getting into the food chain. Even the finest particles of plastic represent a threat to creatures at the lowest level of the food chain in the marine environment, the filter-feeders. Then, toxins in filter-feeders are passed up the food chain to fish and other marine animals, which humans then consume.

Plastic is over-running our planet. Estimates run as high as one million pieces of plastic per square kilometer (0.6 mile) floating in specific areas of the Pacific Ocean. In this area, plastics outnumber plankton, the base of the marine food web.[6] [7] A surface trawl of the ocean found 6 pounds of plastic pieces for every pound of zooplankton.

But plastic bags are so convenient!

It depends on how far you are looking. A plastic bag may be convenient for a minute or two when you carry something out of the store, but for the rest of the life of the bag (which is forever) it is not just inconvenient, it is ugly, toxic, and life-threatening. There are alternatives to plastic bags, many of which were used by our parents...

Download full fact sheet here.

References

Many of the facts and ideas here are adapted from “Fact Sheet on the Impacts and Volume of One-time use Disposable Grocery Bags,” by Californians Against Waste, January 2005. For more information go to www.cawrecycles.org or call CAW (916) 443-5422.

[1] Greenwire, Environment and Energy Publishing LLC. July 22, 2004.

[2] Williams, Caroline. Battle of the Bag. New Scientist, September 11, 2004.

[3] Based on studies of the use of plastic bags in other nations (Australia, Ireland, Taiwan and England)

[4] Food Marketing Institute.

[5] Pennsylvania Resources Council.

[6] The Independent (London) March 5, 2002, Charles Arthur.

[7] Government of South Australia, Zero Waste SA.

Does the "Progresssive" Bag Alliance side with Bag Monsters?

2008-02-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

A front group for the plastic bag industry and others called the "Progressive" B-a-g Alliance opposes bag bans and supports weak-sauce voluntary recycling programs so industry interests they represent can continue to flood communities with crappy plastic bags. Sounds like they should be called the Regressive Bag Alliance, eh?

SourceWatch will tell you all about this friend of the Bag Monsters.

Any environmental group that allies with them is being used like a tool!

Excerpt from their recent news letter: "The Progressive Ba.g Alliance thanks the American Chemis.try Council, the Society of Plastics Indus.try, the Film and Bag Federa.tion, and the Food Marketing Insti.tute for their continued encouragement and support. PBA continues meeting with other important stakeholders throughout the nation to educate them on our growing campaign, solicit feedback and enlist their support. The plan is to expand our coalition to include environmental groups, large retail chains, local and state business organizations and many others to increase the breadth of our community and add strength to our campaign. "

Girl Scout Troop declares February 9-10 Plastic Bag Free Weekend

2008-02-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

These young women care about their future and the future of the planet so they are taking matters into their own hands (literally) by giving away free bags in their town of Pacific Palisades. What courage! Show that you care about their future too, by adopting a healthy reusable ChicoBag habit. Please encourage them to keep pursuing their dreams by making their YouTube video one of your favorites!

Scouts: Stay strong, always roll with a reusable bag, and together, we'll win the battle of the bags!

Honorary Eco-Heroes have AWESOME blog!

2008-02-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Researchers on a ship in the Pacific Ocean (at this very moment) are on the front line of researching impacts of wayward plastics on ocean ecosystems. They scoop up samples of plankton and tiny plastic bits that intermingle and are consumed by marine life. Check it out, the captain says an economic collapse would pale in comparison to an ecological collapse at an oceanic scale. To find out more about their work check out their blog and their website. There's an image of a huge glob of garbage they found here.

The research ship, "ORV Alguita departed Hilo, Hawaii on January 20, 2008 for a month long winter voyage through the North Pacific Gyre. During this extended voyage, the vessel's research team will collect samples to help answer questions about the growing amount of plastic debris in the world's oceans.

The ORV Alguita Blog is a web space for the ship’s crew to share experiences during their voyage, relay information, and research via satellite while they are at sea!"

We love the smell of bag bans in the morning!

2008-01-30T11:05:00.000-08:00

Fremont Bag Monster Busters catch a whiff of bag ban... or was it the stinky cologne of desperation oozing from Fremont Bag Monsters?

Click here to read the full story

Cities around the world are responding to public support for environmentally sensible policies. Your city could be next, the power is in your hands!

Busters outraged over LA County bag lag! Bag Monsters win this round...

2008-01-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

Program leaves fox watching the hen house for several years! Then the fox will report on the health of the chickens!! Then the fox may go on watching the hen house!!!

“Indeed, with county executives prepared to seek only the voluntary measure… lowering the bar for grocers and retailers even further… A ban would be adopted only if the use of bags in unincorporated Los Angeles County did not decrease at least 30% by July 2010 and at least 65% by July 2013.”

Who collects the data? The stores? That leaves the fox watching the hen house. How hard is it to cook up some data that would prevent these bag ban threats?

The “California Grocers Assn., which represents 500 retailers in California and Nevada, had hired a lobbying firm… by December, the group had paid Rose & Kindel more than $33,000.” It’s easy to be heard in a democracy… Especially when you can hire LOBBYISTS! Because of effective lobbying, "officials chose the weakest of five alternatives… a volunteer program that leaves it to supermarket and store owners to coax customers into packing their purchases in reusable containers." This, in a time when only 1% of plastic bags are currently recycled? Voluntary programs are NOT an adequate solution. Come on suits it’s time to show us something new!

"Some supervisors said Tuesday that it was the best compromise that could be reached in an arena filled with passionate opinions and alternatives that would have cost businesses millions of dollars." By passionate opinions, of course, they are referring to those of the lobbying firm that sought to ensure LA County will continue with single-use plastic bags by promising to recycle. Bag Monster Busters can see right through this puffery.

LA "county's 6 billion plastic bags harm marine life and litter neighborhoods,” what more has to be said? This: Representatives should write legislation that reflects support for public health, environmental health, and they should stop bending over backwards to accommodate industry lobbyists. Even when politicians fail to step up with solid solutions to the bag crisis, we can go on Bag Monster Busting: Stay Strong, and always roll with a reusable ChicoBag.

Wining the war of words against Bag Monsters

2008-01-28T14:51:00.000-08:00

As part of our info campaign, we've joined Technorati so you can share hope with others by making this blog one of your favorites.
Technorati Profile

The bag crisis has many fronts. Of course, our everyday actions have a huge impact... But the availability of accurate information to counter Bag Monsters, plastic bag industry lobbyists and PR powerhouses is paramount: That's why Bag Monster Buster bloggers are on a mission to bring you the most up-to-date info on the bag crisis, Bag Monster Buster victories (and losses too... like weak bag legislation), and the effects of Bag Monsters. We have immense faith in our readers, and by equipping you with accurate info, some good laughs, and a little inspiration, we will eradicate scourge like the Bag Monsters together! Stay strong, and arm yourself against the Bag Monsters with reusable ChicoBags.

Call to action in Oakland 10 AM Monday, January 28! Calling all Bag Monster Busters!

2008-01-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Plastic bag industry lawyers want to prevent Oakland's Bag Ban! Rally on the steps of city hall Monday, January 28 at 10am and demand a local reduction of pollution, oil dependence, blight and global warming through the implementation of this ban!

Be there to show the plastic bag industry and their Bag Monster friends don't have the same rights as we the people. With blatant disregard for promoting public health and the democratic spirit, they are are in a legal battle with the city to halt the bag ban.

The bag industry lawyers' "demand for an Environmental Impact Report on this [bag ban] is just a costly delay tactic and an attempt to create another opportunity to establish plausible deniability. Don’t let them get away with it! Come out Monday to City Hall to support this ban." -Nomad Cafe's Blog

A big shout out to our fellow Bag Monster Busters at Nomad Cafe! Way to lay it down!

"the plastic bag ban ordinance in Oakland, which was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2008. It has been put on hold pending a court hearing over a lawsuit against the ordinance by the plastic bag industry. The court hearing is on Tuesday, January 29.

Those who would make this a debate over “paper vs. plastic” are tacitly validating both, along with all the resource consumption and waste that accompanies them. If you want to make a difference, don’t use either one! Go with reusable bags. In the meantime, the plastic bag ban is a crucial beginning." -Nomad Cafe's Blog

How did Bag Monsters learn to use MySpace???

2008-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

We hear Bag Monsters have learned some new tricks like utilizing social networking sites including MySpace and FaceBook. They even have a Blog. They mutate so quickly it's hard to keep up! So we're doing a recruiting drive because the world needs your help now more than ever...

Join the Bag Monster Busters! The benefits of being an Eco-Hero are pretty good... although we're still working on getting a health insurance plan...

2008-01-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

China Surprise Attacks Bag Monsters:
Bans Production/Distribution of Bags
Victory is at hand!!!

Bag Monsters a dying breed.
Will lobby White House to seek endangered species protection.

Paper or Plastic? NEITHER!

2008-01-07T15:06:00.001-08:00

YouTube video reveals neither option is any good. Plastic is, well, made of plastic. Definite no. But what about paper? Isn't it more environmentally friendly? Surprisingly, paper bags are worse than plastics (especially since oil doesn't make oxygen and trees do). Take matters into your own hands and pick up a set of reusable bags!

Shop like your future depends on it,
because it does!

Watch the video: Shop responsibly.

The bigger our FaceBook and MySpace groups, the bigger our impact against single-use bags!

2008-01-03T18:01:00.000-08:00

To keep the upper hand in the Bag Ban Conflict, we've started a FaceBook group and a MySpace page. Join us in this clash of values against the Bag Monsters, plastics industry lobbyists, and special interest groups.

What we're doing is far superior to the feeble minded ways of the Bag Monster and their friends. See for yourself and visit their FaceBook and MySpace pages!

"A Day Without A Bag" is a day of big impact

2007-12-28T15:14:00.001-08:00

In partnership with reusable bag companies like ChicoBag, Heal the Bay gave away hundreds of reusable bags during their "A Day Without A Bag" event. The impact of that many reusable bags is immense because a reusable bag needs to be used 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags.

We agree with the Monsters at BagMonster.com that people have the freedom to go on taking single-use bags at the market, but the Monsters don't realize we are bound by honor to consider how it impacts future generations. The Bag Monsters are misinformed. As single-use plastic bags photodegrade into tiny toxic bits, they are introduced into Earth's food systems and are consumed by unknowing families the world over! The Bag Monster Buster Crew knows that Bag Monsters are anti-family health and don't care about kids. Don't buy the hype from the Monsters.

Click here to read the full story about "A Day Without A Bag."

Does Annapolis mayor favor "bag ban light: half the calories, and 1% of the potential recycle rate" ???

2007-12-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

It’s essential to set specific goals to hold politicians accountable as we eliminate wasteful bag habits and Bag Monsters! In any business setting, bosses (in this case, voters) set goals with time lines and employees (in this case, elected officials) achieve the goals in a timely manner or they get canned. Recycling is a last ditch effort to reduce impact, but it’s no substitute for a good dose of prevention like bringing your own bag! EPA website: "A sturdy, reusable bag needs only be used 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags." The EPA website reveals only one percent of plastic bags were recycled and 20 percent of paper bags were recycled. (Here's the EPA facts.) Bag bans ARE realistic and necessary. Countless locations are making the transition successfully! Here's the list.

With Bag Monster Busters working on bans worldwide, it ain’t gonna get any easier being a bag monster.

Here's the original article.

What's that stench... A Bag Monster blog??

2007-12-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

After catching wind of the stink that is the Bag Monster blog, we Busters are compelled to fight fire with fire and take to the blogosphere to reveal Bag Monsters and their allies as the scum that they truly are. Use this blog to get resources on how you can ban single-use bags in your community, keep up on Bag Ban News, and get sustainability tips. Together, we will conquer the Bag Monsters.