PLASTIC IS CHICAGO'S KATHY POSNERS BAG

Nothing Plastic About Kathy Posner



On May 11th last year, I wrote a blog “Confessions of a Plastic-A-Holic,” where I highlighted my love affair with plastic bags and why I was upset about the potential plastic bag ban in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Not that I ever go to Evanston, but since it is so close to my hometown, I was afraid the potential ban could spill over the border.


Some cities currently have plastic bag ban ordinances and I was excited to discover that the measure passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is being challenged in court. An association called, “Save the Plastic Bag Coalition,” filed a motion last week in which, “Petitioner seeks a judgment and writ of mandate to set aside, void, annul, and repeal San Francisco Ordinance No. 33-12 (the “Ordinance”). The Ordinance bans plastic carryout bags (“plastic bags”) at retail stores, restaurants, and other food establishments, and requires that consumers pay a 10-cent fee for each paper carryout bag (“paper bag”) and each compostable carryout bag (“compostable bag”).


Steven Joseph of the coalition wrote, “A 10-cent fee is, or may be, far too low to act as an effective incentive to promote the use of reusable bags. No one will carry a reusable bag with them for unplanned impulse buying. Very few people will carry a reusable bag to Macy’s or other department stores to save a dime. Very few people will carry a large reusable bag to purchase one or two small items such as earrings or a watch or a snack from Union Square or Chinatown. Very few tourists will carry reusable bags when they visit Fisherman’s Wharf and tour the city."


I was thinking my love of plastic bags might put me in a unique category until I discovered there were others like me who wanted to protect the plastic bag. I found www.BagtheBan.com. The facts presented reassured me that plastic bags are good and not the environmental horror that the tree huggers claim.


The site’s fact sheet said:


“Plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable.


Across the U.S., millions of people are choosing plastic bags to take their items home from the store. These bags can be a sustainable option for our country when disposed of properly and recycled. Millions of pounds of bags are recycled each year by being brought in to local grocers for collection. Recycled plastic bags are used to make new plastic bags and building products, such as backyard decks, playground equipment, and fences.

If consumers lose their choice of plastic bags at checkout or are forced to pay for them, people would purchase thicker garbage bags, introducing even more plastic into the environment.


Facts about Recycling


· Retail plastic bags are only one small fraction of the litter problem. Solving the larger litter problem isn't about banning grocery plastic bags. The solution is to create new opportunities for recycling all plastics.

· Plastic bag recycling has doubled in the past nine years.1 In 2010, more than 900 million pounds of post-consumer plastic bags, sacks and wraps were recycled.

· According to the EPA, the recycling rate of polyethylene bags, sacks and wraps in 2010 was 14.7 percent, a 23.8 percent increase from the rate in 2009. Recycling of polyethylene bags, sacks and wraps has now grown in 9 out of the last 10 years.

· These recycling efforts support thousands of green jobs which will be damaged with plastic bag bans and taxes.


Facts about Plastic Bags



· On a per bag basis, plastic grocery bags are the best checkout option for our environment. Plastic bags are more resource efficient, reduce landfill waste and generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

They take up a lot less space in a landfill: 1,000 plastic bags weigh 13 pounds; 1,000 paper bags weigh 114 pounds.




They generate 80 percent less waste than paper bags.



They make up a tiny fraction (less than 0.5 percent) of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream.


· American plastic bags are made from natural gas, NOT oil. In the U.S., 85 percent of the raw material used to make plastic bags is produced from natural gas.


· Recycled plastic bags are used to make new plastic bags and building products, such as backyard decks, playground equipment, and fences.”

Now I will admit that Bag the Ban is a project of Hilex Poly, an industry-leading manufacturer of recycled content high density polyethylene (HDPE) bags, films and related products—so they might have a vested interested. But I don’t care where I get my supporting facts from, as long as I get to keep using plastic bags. Another use of plastic bags that was not mentioned--they are quite handy for quietly suffocating one’s enemies.


Editors Note: I have mixed feelings about plastic bags. Lets face it, not many are recycled. Most people use them for their garbage and then throw them all away. There is not much recycling going on. On the other hand, they save trees, which I think is more important. They are also good on a drunken night out when you pick up someone and don't want to look at their face. I think the only answer is to educate the public even better on recycling. Sooner than later the plastics are going to catch up with us and we will have a price to pay. We are already seeing this in the Pacific rim where they have 100's of miles of garbage floating around. The plastics take years to dissolve and when they do, they become part of the food chain. These chemicals are ingested by the seafood we eat. Then we are eating these toxic chemicals.

I think a good start would to ban plastic soda and milk bottles. Cans are easy to recycle and dissolve in landfills. Plastics can take thousands of years. There is no one answer here. Would love to hear what the readers think. Comment as you see fit!

You can read more from Planet Posner HERE...


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