Albertsons is dropping paper and plastic bags all together at some of their Southern California stores. Albertsons held a press conference for the launch of their “Go Bagless” program (Video Below)
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Wednesday Jan 26 2011
Santa Monica approves ban on plastic bags
Santa Monica approves ban on plastic bags
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — The Santa Monica City Council has approved a ban on single-use plastic bags.
Matthew King of Heal the Bay says the council voted 4-0 Tuesday night to approve the ban which affects most retail outlets in the city beginning in September.
Under the ordinance, plastic bags will no longer be available at any retailers in Santa Monica except restaurants providing food and liquids for takeout.
Shoppers who forget their reusable bags can purchase paper bags at checkout for at least 10 cents each.
Santa Monica joins other areas in California that have similar bans, including parts of Los Angeles County, Marin County and the city of San Jose.
The city of Calabasas will consider a ban on plastic bags on Feb. 1.
Tuesday Jan 11 2011
Italy to ban plastic bags in New Year
Italy to ban plastic bags in New Year
Italy is a nation known as much for its food as for the ubiquitous plastic bag, given out freely with every purchase around the country and often left to litter streets or landfills. A new ban coming into effect January 1, however, may change that.
The Italian Environment Ministry is banning shopkeepers from handing out plastic bags in order to help the environment. Even though the January 1 date is firm, the ministry says shopkeepers will be allowed to use up their existing stock of plastic bags without penalties.
It is a great innovation,” Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo said of the ban. It “marks a step forward of fundamental importance in the fight against pollution, making us all more responsible for using and recycling. For the law to give positive results, it is necessary that all the commercial entrepreneurs, large or small, and citizens get involved and experiment with alternatives to plastic bags.”
The environmental group Legambiente estimates each Italian consumes about 300 plastic bags a year, and that 180,000 tons of gasoline would be saved if everyone used just 10 bio-degradable bags a year for their shopping.
The tendency for shops and merchants to give out plastic bags for everything is a recent one. Paper bags — or no bags at all — were the norm just 30 or 40 years ago, when ladies would carry their own shopping carts or net sacks to the store.
Some shopkeepers interviewed Friday in central Rome complained they hadn’t been told officially about the ban. A fishmonger said he learned of it only through the media and doesn’t know whether he’ll face a fine.
“I have no idea as to what could replace the plastic bags for me,” he said. “How am I going to sell fish, which is often wet and is smelly in a paper bag?”
A grocery seller at a market said he has already started using some cloth bags with the stall’s name for some of his clients, he said, adding he also learned about the ban through the media.
A woman who runs three clothing shops said there is still a lot of confusion about the ban.
“How they will go around checking?” she said. “No one has officially told me anything. I know what I know from newspapers. In one of my shops I’ve switched to cloth bags for over a year, but in another one I have plastic bags enough to last me until the summer. Supposedly as long as I can prove that I placed the order for those bags earlier this year, I’ll be OK.”
Similar bans have been enacted elsewhere around the world.
Mexico City last year banned shops from giving out plastic bags that are not bio-degradable. France also imposed a similar law.
China has adopted a strict limit on them, reducing litter and eliminating the use of 40 billion bags, the World Watch Institute said, citing government estimates. Although compliance has been spotty, violation of the law carries a possible fine of 10,000 yuan ($1,463), World Watch said.
In Tanzania, selling the bags carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and a fine of 1.5 million shilling ($1,137).
Mumbai, India, outlawed the bags in 2000 and cities in Australia, South Africa and Taiwan have imposed bans or surcharges. Ireland reported cutting use of the bags by 90 percent after imposing a fee on each one.
Tuesday Jan 11 2011
San Jose bans plastic bags
San Jose became the largest U.S. city to ban plastic carry-out bags Tuesday with an ordinance that supporters said was the most far-reaching in the country aimed at encouraging shoppers to bring reusable totes.
The ordinance, approved on a 10-1 vote after two years of study, wouldn’t become effective until Jan. 1, 2012, to allow for more public outreach. It would prohibit retailers from giving out disposable plastic bags at the check stand and require them to charge for paper bags.
“This is a great step,” Councilman Sam Liccardo said. “It’s an opportunity to lead on an important environmental issue.”
Councilman Pete Constant, the lone dissenter, said the council had “increased the burden and cost for people in the midst of one of the deepest recessions we’ve experienced in our lifetime.”
Reaction from downtown shoppers was mixed.
“I don’t have a whole lot of money to be charged for paper bags,” said Pine Watt, 18, a freshman at San Jose State.
Nimfa Sanchez, 74, walked into the San Fernando Street Safeway from a downpour and wondered how she would fare without waterproof plastic bags.
“How am I going to run after my groceries that roll out of a paper bag on a night like this?” asked Sanchez, who uses a walker. “Besides, I already recycle.”
But Julianna Iran, 24, who was examining lettuce at the Safeway, pronounced the idea “terrific. If it’s going to cost money to get a paper bag, I’ll be more likely to bring my cloth bag.”
And Luke Vong, 47, a civil engineer walking out of the store with a double plastic bag filled with groceries, called the ban “good for the environment.”
Most retailers affected
Opinions also varied inside the council chamber. Samantha Dabish, representing the Neighborhood Market Association, urged the council to include an exemption for smaller stores that she said would face higher costs from the ban.
But Timothy James of the California Grocers Association said grocers appreciated amendments woven into the ban to allow bags for pharmaceuticals and meats.
San Jose isn’t the first city to ban plastic bags; San Francisco led the way in 2007. But San Jose’s ordinance goes further than others, said David Lewis, executive director of the environmental group Save the Bay.
The ordinance covers most retailers, not just groceries and pharmacies, and discourages disposable paper bags by requiring merchants to charge customers for them. He said the city ordinance will be a model for other cities and counties.
Lewis called disposable plastic bags “one of the most visible and unsightly forms of pollution in the bay.” He said the Bay Area uses 3.8 billion plastic bags a year and about 1 million end up in San Francisco Bay, where they harm birds, fish and other animals.
Lisa Bickford, 46, of San Jose, came to show her support for a ban by attending the meeting in a “bag monster” costume made out of 500 disposable plastic bags.
“I live to be 1,000 years old, and I am synthetic so I break down slowly,” Bickford said in mock protest. “I will be here long after any of you.”
Critics such as the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic-bag makers, say their product is being unfairly maligned, noting it can be recycled and turned into items such as shopping carts and composite lumber. They say government officials should promote recycling bags rather than banning them.
But Lewis said recycling hasn’t worked, with only about 5 percent recycled in California.
“People consider it trash, not something of value,” he said. “That’s why it ends up on the street.”
Industry lobbying has helped thwart efforts to ban plastic bags statewide. A state Assembly bill to ban single-use plastic carry-out bags from grocery and drugstores died this year for lack of support in the Senate, despite backing from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But that has only spurred local bans. In addition to San Francisco, Palo Alto, Oakland, Malibu and Los Angeles County have approved similar measures, while Fremont, Sunnyvale, Marin County and Santa Clara County are among those considering them.
Opponents have sued or threatened litigation against some cities over plastic bag bans, arguing that they only encourage use of disposable paper sacks. Plastic-bag backers contend that paper is more environmentally harmful because of deforestation and the energy needed to manufacture wood pulp.
Lawsuits and legal threats over bans in Oakland, Palo Alto and Fairfax argue that the cities should have conducted a full analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act before taking action. Oakland suspended its ban; Fairfax, in Marin County, made it voluntary. And Palo Alto agreed in a settlement to conduct a complete environmental review if it expands its ban beyond grocers.
San Jose’s ban underwent a full environmental analysis, which Councilman Kansen Chu says will make it more legally sound. Chu pushed for the city to pass a bag law after returning from a trip to Taiwan, where merchants charge customers for disposable carry-out bags.
Restaurants exempt
The chemistry council also argued that the measure would violate restrictions on fees that voters approved in November under Proposition 26. But City Attorney Rick Doyle disagreed because the city doesn’t receive the paper bag fee; merchants do.
The ordinance exempts restaurants and nonprofit secondhand stores such as the Salvation Army. City officials said paper or reusable bags may be impractical for carrying moist, messy takeout foods, and that secondhand stores already reduce waste by encouraging people to reuse things.
The ban also doesn’t prohibit plastic bags made available to protect meat, produce or bulk foods, nor does it prohibit sales of sandwich or trash bags.
Retailers could face fines of $500 to $1,000 for violating the ordinance.
Mayor Chuck Reed urged environmentalists and neighborhood groups to keep track of how many bags wind up in city creeks after the ban, saying, “It’s really important to demonstrate that we’ve addressed the problem.”
By John Woolfolk
Mercury News
Wednesday Nov 24 2010
Lead Testing Results/Letter to LA County
Dear Board of Supervisors,
The management and employees of Earthwise Bag Company Inc would like to congratulate you and commend you for your recent decision to ban single use plastic bags in LA County. We are confident that your bold decision will certainly help to encourage other cities & counties around the country to move in this direction to help in protecting our environment and reduce the enormous cost of cleaning up these bags.
We also want to bring to your attention that at the hearing last week Mr. Stephen Joseph, council for SaveThePlasticBag.com held up a green reusable bag during his presentation against the measure and stated that “this bag made for LA County has lead in it”. Earthwise made and supplied that bag to LA County earlier this year and we are pleased to report that the lead content in this bag was way below the federal standard laid down by the Consumer products safety commission and in fact is even lower than the 100ppm that will be required by August 2011.
I have attached a copy of the test done by Bureau Veritas an independent and internationally recognized lab for your information.
Should you require any further information about reusable bags please do not hesitate to contact us. We thank you again for your public service and hope we can be helpful in the future to LA county in helping to inform the public about the benefits of using reusable shopping bags.
Yours sincerely
Stanley Joffe
President
earthwise bag company, inc.
2819 Burton Avenue
Burbank, Ca 91504
p. 818.847.2174
f. 818.847.9681
Choose to Reuse™
Monday Nov 22 2010
Holes in the bag ban
There are two things wrong with the plastic bag ban imposed this week by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. One is that charging a small fee for carryout plastic bags is a better solution than a ban. Fees have hugely reduced the use of the bags in countries that charge them while offering an option to consumers. The other problem is that a patchwork of municipal laws is confusing to consumers and inefficient for large chain stores.
Yet for both wrongs, the blame belongs not with the supervisors but with the Legislature, which pushed municipalities into this situation by passing one law that prohibited them from imposing fees on plastic bags until 2013, and rejecting another law that would have addressed this source of pollution on a statewide level.
Given the Legislature’s bumbling and the continued damage caused by carryout bags, the board did the best thing it could. If more large municipalities follow its lead — particularly the city of Los Angeles — the grocery industry, which supports a statewide solution, might join in prodding the Legislature into action.
One way or another, California should follow the lead of the more than 30 countries — and many more local governments — that have acted against plastic bags, a list diverse enough to include Papua New Guinea, France, Botswana and China. People in these countries appear to be getting along just fine without the bags, which choke waterways, contribute to urban and wilderness litter, are the second-most-common source of trash on California’s beaches and a key ingredient in the giant patches of plastic debris that are polluting the oceans. California’s consumers need to understand that plastic bags are not as “free” as they seem; the cost is rolled into the price of the goods they buy. What’s more, the state’s taxpayers pay close to $25 million a year to rid streets, beaches, parks and waterways of the bags.
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich’s objection to the county ban — that poor people won’t be able to afford to pick up after their pets if they don’t receive plastic bags from stores — is off base. Only carryout bags, which are responsible for most of the plastic bag trash, would be banned. The smaller bags in which people put their produce, and in which this newspaper is delivered, tend to be disposed of properly in recycling or trash bins and are not affected by the ban.
The state tried beefing up recycling efforts for carryout plastic bags. It didn’t work. Californians use more than 120,000 tons of the bags each year, and recycle 5% of them. Now the Legislature needs to take stronger action, through either a statewide fee or a statewide ban, to put an end to the growing patchwork of local regulations.
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
Friday Nov 19 2010
INDUSTRY LEADERS CONFIRM THEIR REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS ARE SAFE
INDUSTRY LEADERS CONFIRM THEIR REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS ARE SAFE
San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA, November 18, 2010 – The Earthwise Bag Company Inc. (“Earthwise”) and The Green Bag Company, Inc. (“Green Bag”) today announced that their reusable grocery bags have consistently met all Consumer Product Safety Standards in accordance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Regular independent testing of the companies’ bags confirms that fact. All reusable grocery bags produced by both companies bear a label with their name. Any consumer in doubt about the safety of their bag should check the label to ensure that their bag was supplied by Earthwise or Green Bag.
Stanley Joffe, CEO of Earthwise, and Schulmynn Leung, General Manager of Green Bag, said in a joint statement, “Contrary to recent media reports, consumers should not be frightened by headlines alleging that reusable bags in general are unsafe for use. We have regularly tested our reusable grocery bags for lead and other toxic content in order to ensure consumer and environmental safety. These tests have been repeated in recent days, and confirm that our bags pose no safety risk either to people or to the environment. Unlike some other bags, our bags meet all federal requirements for lead and other toxins, and are safe to use.”
“We stand by our products, and are confident that consumers and the environment are safer because of them. We have led the movement to find alternatives to and reduce the more than 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags used every year in the U.S. that pollute the environment and pose huge clean-up costs. Consumers can rest assured that they are doing the right thing for their families and the environment by using reusable bags supplied by Earthwise and Green Bag.”
Earthwise Bag Company, Inc. established in 2005, is one of the leading suppliers of reusable bags in the United States. Their branded and private label products inspire responsibility, accountability and a fresh approach to feeling good about our planet. For more information, visit http://www.earthwisebags.com/
The Green Bag Company Inc. was established in the year 2000, making it a pioneer in the area of reusable shopping bags. Currently its branded and private label products are contributing to the reduction of single use plastic bags in over twenty countries worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.greenbag.info/
Thursday Nov 18 2010
Shop & Save says no issues with their Earthwise reusable bags
Shop & Save says no issues with their Earthwise reusable bags
A spokesperson for Shop ‘n Save said that “no problems have been identified with the reusable bags sold in SHOP ‘N SAVE stores. We have verified with our primary bag supplier, Earthwise, that our bags have passed independent testing for lead content. Additionally, we are closely monitoring this issue and are actively communicating with each of our vendor partners to ensure the safety of our bags going forward.”
Thursday Nov 18 2010
INDUSTRY LEADERS ASSURE CONSUMERS REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS ARE SAFE
Earthwise Bag Company, Inc. and The Green Bag Company, Inc. Statement
November 18, 2010
A Joint Message from the People at Earthwise Bag Company Inc and The Green Bag Company, Inc.
Earthwise Bag Company, Inc. and The Green Bag Company, Inc.’s reusable bags remain safe for all consumers to use. We have regularly tested our bags over the last five years for lead content, and they have consistently met all Consumer Product Safety Standards in accordance with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Our most recent tests, conducted in recent days, confirm the safety of our products. In fact, the lead content in our bags consistently tests well below the safety standard set by the federal government. But, in an abundance of caution, we have commissioned more independent tests on a sampling of our bags to ensure that they pose no safety risk either to people or to the environment. Results of those new tests will be available to us within the next few days. We will release them to the public as soon as we receive them.
Meanwhile, consumers need to know that our bags are manufactured according to the most exacting global standards and they reflect our long-term dedication to the environment and the health and safety of our workers and the families who ultimately use them. Headlines that create fear about reusable bags are not based on fact and do not apply to bags supplied either by Earthwise or The Green Bag Company, Inc., which have both always been in compliance with federal standards.
Our two companies, which together supply the majority of all reusable grocery bags, have led the movement to find alternatives to and reduce the more than 100 billion single-use plastic shopping bags used every year in the U.S. because they pollute the environment and cause local governments to incur huge cleanup costs. Since the introduction of reusable grocery bags, there has been a substantial drop in single use bags consumed by major retailers around the country.
Of course, all reusable bags are not created equal. Recent reports have raised the issue of lead content and reported testing on bags that were supplied by companies other than Earthwise or The Green Bag Company, Inc. In fact, none of our reusable bags has tested above the federal standards for lead content.
We stand by our products, and are confident that consumers and the environment are safe and protected as a result of our efforts. We look forward to updating you when we receive our test results, and we thank you for your continued support and confidence.
Tuesday Nov 16 2010
L.A. County passes sweeping ban on plastic bags
Original article found on LA Times website
Enacting one of the nation’s most aggressive environmental measures, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to ban plastic grocery bags in unincorporated areas of the county.
The vote was 3-1, supported by Supervisors Gloria Molina, Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Zev Yaroslavsky, and opposed by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. Supervisor Don Knabe was absent.
The ban, which will cover nearly 1.1 million residents countywide, is to the point: “No store shall provide to any customer a plastic carryout bag.” An exception would be made for plastic bags that are used to hold fruit, vegetables or raw meat in order to prevent contamination with other grocery items.
If grocers choose to offer paper bags, they must sell them for 10 cents each, according to the ordinance. The revenue will be retained by the stores to purchase the paper bags and educate customers about the law.
“Plastic bags are a pollutant. They pollute the urban landscape. They are what we call in our county urban tumbleweed,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
Mark Gold, president of the Santa Monica environmental group Heal the Bay, said previous county efforts to promote recycling of plastic bags at grocery stores was a failure.
“You cannot recycle your way out of the plastic bag problem,” Gold said. “The cost of convenience can no longer be at the expense of the environment.”
The measure is a significant win for environmental groups, which suffered a major defeat in Sacramento at the end of August with the failure of the state Senate to pass a sweeping plastic bag ban that won the support of the state Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger amid heavy and costly lobbying by plastic bag manufacturers.
But the ban could cause confusion. The action by the Board of Supervisors only covers the unincorporated areas of L.A. County, covering some neighborhoods like Altadena, Valencia and Rowland Heights, but doesn’t cover 88 cities in L.A. County. City councils could adopt a similar ordinance.
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich raised the prospect that small mom-and-pop shops could suffer financially because they won’t be able to buy paper and reusable bags in great volume, and could force low-income people to buy bags to pick up pet waste or carry their lunch.
“At a time of economic uncertainty, with a large number of businesses leaving our state and community this would not be an appropriate time … to impose this additional regulation,” Antonovich said.
Opponents of the ban told the supervisors that a legal challenge to the ban is still a possibility.
With the Tuesday vote, L.A. County’s measure is more stringent than similar bans adopted elsewhere in California, Gold said.
San Francisco’s ban, which passed three years ago, is less restrictive because it still permits grocers to offer bioplastic bags made from corn starch, which are imperfect because they also do not degrade in the ocean, Gold said. Bans in San Francisco and Malibu also do not add a surcharge on paper bags, Gold said, which does not give consumers an incentive to switch to reusable cloth bags.
Washington, D.C., decided to tackle the issue not with a ban on any kind of bag, but a 5-cent surcharge per any item of disposable bag.
Gold, however, said an outright ban will be more effective on reducing the 6 billion plastic bags that are used in L.A. County every year, which according to the county, account for 25% of the litter picked up here.
Government figures show that just 5% of plastic bags are recycled.
Last week, the American Chemistry Council, one of the chief opponents of the ban, warned L.A. County leaders that the proposed ordinance and fee on paper bags fall under the voting requirements of Proposition 26. The initiative, which passed this month, reclassifies most regulatory fees on industry as “taxes” requiring a two-thirds vote in government bodies or in public referendums, rather than a simple majority.
County Counsel Andrea Ordin said Tuesday that the 10-cent surcharge on paper bags is not a fee covered by Prop. 26 because the revenue is being kept by the grocers and not directed to a government agency.