News

Today, the Los Angeles City Council approved a ban on plastic bags at grocery stores! The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-1 to ban plastic, single-use carryout bags at all stores that sell perishable food items, including supermarkets, some big-box chains, pharmacies and convenience stores. The ordinance also requires these establishments to charge customers 10 cents for each paper bag used.  Along with a coalition of environmental groups like Heal the Bay and the Surfrider Foundation, Earthwise joined in to support the ban and witnessed the City Council Meeting and final vote today!  It was a long time coming, and everyone who has supported this effort from the very beginning was very pleased to be a part of this triumphant victory.

And, today Los Angeles became the largest city in the state to adopt a plastic bag ban; Los Angeles County, Culver City, Santa Monica and several other cities in the county have previously adopted similar bans. All the previous repeated attempts to pass a statewide ban on plastic bags have failed due to opposition from business groups and plastic bag manufacturers, including Crown Poly, among others.  

The ordinance goes to a second council vote next week and then to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his signature. After that, the ban will go into effect on January 1, 2014. The ban extends to smaller stores on July 1, 2014. Plastic bags used for produce items would be exempted from the ban.

For Star Education’s 13th Annual STAR Eco-Station’s Children’s Earth Day event, Earthwise was delighted to support this wonderful educational organization with a donation of 200 reusable bags for their VIP gift bags this year.

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!

After being stymied five years ago in their attempt to tax single-use plastic bags that most city shoppers use, environmentalists will try once again to get New Yorkers to use reusable shopping bags. Leading the cause is Councilman Brad Lander. He plans to introduce legislation to reduce plastic bag use in the city and this Brooklyn Democrat says that he is considering many options, including taxes, fees or bans on bags.

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.

Tasmanian Director of Do Something, Ben Kearney, is ecstatic that after 10 years of campaigning, legislation has finally passed the State Parliament banning plastic bags. As Ben Kearney put it, a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags in Tasmania has come better late than never.  Mr. Kearney is celebrating the ban that will apply to Tasmanian shops and supermarkets beginning in November 2013.  This comes after a bill passed in the state’s upper house at the end of May. South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have already enacted similar bans.

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.

Council member Dwaine Caraway took his crusade against plastic bags to a committee meeting this morning. He approached a ban back in March. “Who is going to go and clean up this city?” Caraway asked fellow council members on the Quality of Life and Government Services Committee.

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.

Yesterday, the California Senate refused to pass Senate Bill 405 (Padilla).  The measure failed by a vote of 18-17 with four abstentions. In order for the bill to have passed, the measure would had to have received 21 votes in favor.

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.

To help power its Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution center in Compton, California, the Kroger Co. has unveiled a clean energy production system that will actually convert spoiled food that cannot be sold or donated into clean energy. The anaerobic conversion system will process more than 55,000 tons of organic food waste into renewable energy annually, providing power for the more than 650,000 square foot distribution center. By diverting the food waste – the equivalent of 150 tons per day – the system will also reduce area truck trips by more than 500,000 miles each year. The Kroger Recovery System uses a sophisticated process to convert the carbon in organic material into a renewable source of methane.

“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

The City of Sacramento could very well be the next California city to ban plastic bags. On Tuesday, in an unanimous vote, the Law and Legislation Committee passed a plastic bag ban for the city’s big box stores as well as grocery stores. As approved by the committee, the ordinance would also place a $.10 fee on recycled paper bags as well as reusable bags. 

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.

Redlands, California is celebrating its 125th anniversary.  And, Albertson’s has been added to the list of local businesses and community members promoting the city’s 125th anniversary.

New reusable bags (manufactured and supplied by Earthwise Bag Company) carrying the anniversary’s custom logo (created by Richard Pennington of Pennington Designs) were recently made available at Albertsons Redlands store on Redlands Boulevard and Cypress Avenue.

Store manager Mike Enright said the bags celebrating the city’s anniversary were a natural fit for his store, which has previously sold bags featuring historic Redlands locations.  The first bags were released on December 1 and sold out within a number of weeks, Enright said.

“We sold 10,000 of the first design,” Enright said. “When those sold out, we had been considering what to do for a new design.”

Courtesy Photo: Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, left, and store manager Mike Enright display reusable grocery bags now for sale at the local Albertsons.

The new 125th Anniversary bags are available for $3.00 a pair. The idea for the bags stemmed from a conversation Mayor Pro Tem Paul Foster, who heads up the anniversary committee, had with Albertsons Store Manager Mike Enright. “He came in and showed us the new logo and said, ‘You have my permission to use (it),’” Enright said.

These new reusable bags also feature the logo for Hangar 24 Craft Brewery. They are the second custom Redlands bags purchased by the store and sold to customers.  The first bag showcased the city’s rich history by featuring on the historic nature of the city’s long-standing orange groves, the University of Redlands, the Redlands Bowl, Kimberly Crest and other city landmarks.  That bag design is know as Earthwise’s Hyper-Local Bag and every design is custom-made for each customer and created around the city in which their store does business. 

“We have always wanted to do a second edition of our bags, but we didn’t want to do the same thing we did before. So we were trying to find ideas to make it different and unique,” he said when asked about the new design. “The people of Redlands are so proud of their city… and they supported our first bag, which we didn’t expect to sell out as quickly as we did.”

Although Albertsons is a corporation, Enright says the store’s Redlands location wants to connect with its local community as much as they can. These unique bags are just one way the store continues to focus on its promise.

“The store has been here since the 1960s, so it’s been a part of Redlands for a long time, and Redlands has such a rich history,” he said. “We wanted to do something special to connect with the community, and that’s why we wanted to do another bag. ”

City officials say that the city’s 125th anniversary officially kicked off in December with the annual Redlands Christmas Parade, which was sponsored by the city and the Kiwanis Club of Redlands. All anniversary celebrations continue through November, also according to city officials.

Any group or individual interested in participating or serving as a sponsor of the anniversary celebration may contact Tommi Ng at tng@cityofredlands.org or 909-798-7514.

“We are just really excited and appreciate companies, local businesses and local outlets of larger businesses like Albertsons that are demonstrating a commitment to the community this way,” said Carl Baker, city spokesman. “Albertson’s is part of a chain, but their local store is operated by real people… and we appreciate Mike’s enthusiasm and the store for getting involved.

“And the same can be said… for all the other businesses who have joined in as well.”

Albertsons is at 450 E. Cypress Ave.

Earthwise Bag Company partners with organizations around the country under the belief that everyone has a responsibility to make a positive difference in this world. We are actively involved with a variety of environmental, health, and human interest groups to contribute to the overall well-being of the planet and each other. Upon its founding, the company’s initial motivation was to help mitigate the effects that plastic bags have on our environment and we have furthered that goal to include helping our community.

One of our partnerships is with Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Earthwise provides over 2,000 custom reusable bags for their annual Kids 4 Kids RUN/WALK. Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) Founder/President Matti Contopulos believes that kids possess a uniquely powerful spirit of hope and an untarnished belief that their wildest dreams can be accomplished, whether it’s becoming President of the United States, or finding a cure for cancer. She also believes that there’s a kid in all of us and created the annual Kids 4 Kids RUN/WALK.

The concept for Kids 4 Kids RUN/WALK evolved from important changes Matti has seen over the years in children’s awareness of cancer and the incredible generosity from kids of all ages wanting to help kids with cancer. “Countless times we’ve experienced amazing examples of hope and determination in children whether they were patients battling cancer or determined children who emptied their own piggy banks to make a donation to our organization,” said Matti. This is a spectacular Event as kids of ALL ages from throughout Southern California participate in a truly fun Event with a very special mission: to create a HAPPIER and HEALTHIER future for all children. With the monies raised, HAPPIER will be supplies for the arts and crafts programs at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camps, and HEALTHIER will be the funding of new grants in clinical research in pediatric oncology. There is no RUN/WALK like this in the country and we feel it has become a national campaign with an incredible impact on pediatric cancer, having raised over $1.6 million in the first six years. For the doctors tackling research, for the children and families dealing with cancer, and for our Most Valuable Players (EVERYONE WHO WALKS OR RUNS) who are participating…the event always promises to be an incredible occasion for all. The 2013 Kids 4 Kids RUN/WALK was no exception.  

A handful of Earthwise employees participated in this year’s event to support Children’s Cancer Research, as we usually do.  It was a challenging event with much reward and sense of accomplishment for all who participated.  All of us here at Earthwise Bag Company are proud to sponsor and participate in such an amazing event and will continue to do so year after year.

Carmen Camonayan of Earthwise with Granddaughters Showing Off Earthwise Donated Goody Bags

Here are some of our employees who participated in this year’s Kids 4 Kids RUN/WALK -

Lisa Garcia of Earthwise with Daughter Alexandria at Finish Line

Lourdes Munoz & Carmen Camonayan of Earthwise with Camonayan Granddaughters Right Before Race Begins

Lisa Garcia of Earthwise Right Before Race Begins