Star Education helps families have a fun and educational experience while celebrating the earth! The funds they raised at the event will help enable the STAR Eco Station to continue providing rescue and rehabilitation for illegal, abandoned, or abused exotic wildlife. The funds also make it possible for the Eco Station to continue its work to increase environmental awareness in the community through their accessible, affordable, and award-winning programs.

Congratulations Eco Station for another successful Earth Day Event and thank you for the heart-warming “Thank You” note!

In 2008, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to impose a six-cent tax per plastic bag, but the measure failed due to the opposition from not only consumers, but retailers as well. Instead, New York passed a law which requires medium-sized chain businesses and stores over 5,000 square feet to recycle plastic bags returned by consumers.  ”The evidence is in, and even with the (2008 law) New Yorkers continue to use more than 1 billion plastic bags a year,” said Mr. Lander. He believes it’s time to take more aggressive action since the plastic bag use is still unbelievably high in the city of New York. “The bags continue to wind up in our waste stream, in our trees, in our recycling system, and in our storm drains,” said Mr. Lander.

Even though Mayor Bloomberg’s tax wasn’t adopted, Mr. Lander feels that this will do better since there have been so many successful efforts throughout the country to curb plastic bag use. “There’s a lot more data now about what works and I think we can really learn by what’s been done effectively around the country,” Mr. Lander went on to say.  There is some opposition from retailers, restaurants and advocates for low-income families. Mr. Lander is attempting to address these issues in his proposal. “We’ve sat down and had productive dialogues with the grocery store associations and restaurant associations, and we’re hopeful that we will find a way (to reduce plastic bag use) that works for the business community as well,” he said. 

Mr. Lander is working with BagItNYC, a coalition that includes organizations such as Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the New York Restoration Project, to gain support for his effort. On June 24, this coalition will hold an information session in Park Slope. Speakers will include Mr. Lander, Green Party officials, the Sierra Club, and Jennie Romer, who spearheaded successful efforts in California to ban or restrict single-use plastic bags. During the presentation, several short videos on plastic bags will be aired, including “The Immortal Plastic Bag,” a mini-documentary about plastic bags in New York City.

To get involved in the movement to adopt a plastic bag reduction ordinance (ban or fee) in NYC, please visit BagItNYC to register your support.

The winner, Katrice Sylvester, a current senior at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, was thrilled that she won this contest.  She was awarded $2,500.00 for her winning entry in the “Designed to Fight Hunger” reusable bag design contest. Sylvester had entered the competition as part of a school assignment for her studies in graphic design. Her winning design, featuring a yellow ribbon made of a knife and fork, will be featured at all the 250 ShopRite locations.

(Photo Credit: South Jersey Times) Katrice Sylvester holds her winning design for a reusable bag contest held by the ShopRite grocery chain.

As part of ShopRite’s “Designed to Fight Hunger” program, they will match the $2,500.00 prize and donate another $2,500.00 to the Food Bank of South Jersey. ShopRite developed the contest to bring awareness to the fight against hunger while incorporating an earth-friendly issue to promote customers to use reusable bags. The grocery chain also invited emerging artists to come up with their own unique design to be featured on the bags, and ShopRite honored Kristin Stout, N.J., and Brittany Morris of Mouth Ephaim for their 2nd and 3rd place entries.

On Monday, at their kick-off event at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, Eugene City Council Member Alan Zelenka announced a new program relating to Eugene’s new Plastic Bag Ban – Bring Your Bag – Start the Habit and Keep Eugene Clean & Beautiful. He announced that this new program will distribute free reusable shopping bags to low-income residents of Eugene.  Safeway and Fred Meyer have donated a total of 10,000 reusable grocery bags which will be distributed free through FOOD for Lane County (FFLC) service locations in Eugene. FFLC has 79 service locations in the city.  The free reusable grocery bags will be made available to their clients and other members of the public. 

Click here to download a complete list of FFLC service locations where the bags can be obtained.  The bags will be available beginning June 17th.

Mr. Kearney made national headlines when he campaigned for Coles Bay to become the first plastic bag-free town in Australia about 10 years ago. He said he was disappointed it took 10 years in his state. “There has always been strong support from the Greens and the Liberal Party and a tripartite approach came about in 2011 when David O’Byrne was environment minister,” Mr. Kearney said. “It takes the stars to align politically sometimes. I am really pleased it has happened now.”

He went on to say, “We have been campaigning for a long time and it is great to see this result. Now I hope other states will follow.”

The ban in Tasmania covers light-weight plastic bags used for groceries, takeaway food as well as retail goods. It will not apply to biodegradable plastic bags, heavier plastic bags that can be reused, reusable bags or thin-film barrier bags.

A public hearing was held about the plastic bag ban ordinance at the last meeting on May 28th. About half a dozen citizens spoke in favor of such a ban and no one opposed. The council took no action at that point but may tomorrow evening.

The committee unanimously voted to bring a the briefing to the full council after they spent about 15 minutes discussing the possibility of such a ban. The specific date for a full council vote was not set, but the committee meeting did provide additional details of the ban.

In terms of fees, Council Member Caraway suggested that the costs of providing reusable bags instead of the traditional single-use plastic bags should fall on the supermarkets or product manufacturers. “I really do not want to see the consumer have to pay anything for these bags,” Caraway said about the ban he first proposed in March. “I’m not looking for a money generator. … I do not think the consumer should have to pay one dime for these bags.”

Zac Trahan, program director with the Texas Campaign for the Environment, cited the benefits of a bag ban, including less garbage and fewer problems with litter mucking up wildlife in the city — along with the general promotion of moving away from a throw-away culture.

Dallas wouldn’t be the first city to enact a bag ban. Caraway’s proposed ordinance is based on Austin’s ban and a handful of other Texas cities, like South Padre Island and Brownsville, that have also outlawed the bag.

“We have bags in the streets, bags in the water, bags in the trees. It’s an environmental problem,” said Frank Camp, interim marketing director with the Office of Environmental Quality, who presented the ordinance to the committee and provided details on what constitutes a reusable bag.

According to his presentation, reusable bags must be constructed of either cloth or another washable fabric, recyclable plastic greater than 0.004 inch in thickness or recyclable paper with a minimum of 40 percent recycled content. You can ready Camp’s full presentation here.

There was no real opposition from the committee in terms of the ban and Caraway has said he believes the ordinance will pass.

SB 405 would have been a statewide law prohibiting California retailers from providing any type single-use carryout bag to a customer. The bill was sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla and garnered many supporters, including the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, California Grocers Association, the California Retailers Association, a coalition of environmental groups, the Reusable Bag Association, and more.

Immediately after the Senate’s decision, Sen. Padilla asked for a reconsideration of the bill which was granted. So the fight is not over. The bill could be reconsidered by a Committee or the Senate floor.

Those against the measure talked extensively about the potential loss of jobs associated with the manufacturing of plastic bags in the state and how commonly plastic bags are reused. Sen. Alex Padilla, who sponsored the bill, said plastic bag manufacturers in the state either already produce reusable plastic bags or are in the process of switching systems over so they can manufacture them as well. “These companies are transitioning and workers can be trained,” he said. But the potential job losses shouldn’t derail the measure, Padilla argued.

“It’s like arguing that we shouldn’t fight the obesity problem because of what it might do to companies like Coke and Pepsi,” Padilla said. “It’s like arguing we shouldn’t fight climate change because what it might do to the oil companies.”

Over the last 5 years, more than 75 California cities and counties have adopted ordinances banning single use plastic bags. The bans adopted to date are reducing California plastic generation by 3 billion bags, and ordinances currently under consideration have the potential to reduce plastic by another 2-3 billion bags annually. City by city, county by count, the campaign to eliminate single use plastic packaging and waste will continue. 

Watch for more on the reconsideration of SB 405.

“We are committed to finding solutions for food waste and clean energy, and we believe this is a meaningful step forward,” said Rodney McMullen, president and COO of Kroger, which operates 2,424 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banners. “Investing in this project is a good business decision for Kroger and, most importantly, an extraordinary opportunity to benefit the environment. We want to thank Governor Brown and his team at CalRecycle and CalEPA, the City of Compton, the SCAQMD, and our partner at FEED for making this renewable energy project a reality.”

The Kroger Recovery System turns organic food, and on site food-processing effluent, into renewable biogas, which is then turned into power for the on site operations.  The process is carried out in an enclosed, oxygen-free environment, which means the process takes up less space and generates no odors. The system will provide enough renewable biogas to offset more than 20% of the energy demand of the Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution center.

According to Kroger, combining the use of renewable energy power with more than 150 zero emission fuel cell forklifts, the Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution center is now one of the greenest and most efficient which is advancing the City of Compton as a leading sustainable community.

Source: Green Retail Decisions

Joining environmental groups back in February, Council members Kevin McCarty and Steve Cohen announced the push for the ban.  They emphasized that single-use plastic bags pollute waterways and they constantly clog up recycling machinery. “Over $100,000 is tied to plastic bags clogging up our machines,” McCarty said in February.

Now, the ban will be brought before the whole city council, however, the date of the vote has not yet been established.

If approved, Sacramento will join the over 75 other California cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, who have already approved plastic bag bans.