A little challenge....in the Saanich News.

Keep holidays plastic bag free

Holiday shopping has begun. Although I would like to expound on the value of shopping for sustainable gifts I am choosing instead to put out a challenge to holiday shoppers. Each time you go out to purchase gifts in the Capital region, I challenge you to bring your own reusable shopping bags. I challenge you to return home with your purchases and not with any extra plastic shopping bags. This is not a difficult challenge but imagine if all shoppers did this over the next month. How many bags would we save from entering and destroying our environment? How many barrels of oil would we conserve if we just said no. So simple, so important. I challenge all of you.

Lana Popham

Saanich

Remember the days when we were so crazy and used plastic grocery bags?

‘People will get used to it’

Going green looks fine to shoppers

BY CARLAWILSON Times Colonist staff

Customers at Langford’s Real Canadian Superstore didn’t seem to mind bringing their own bags to the checkout yesterday, as the store became what it says is the first major grocery retailer in B.C. to go plastic-bag free.

Shoppers packed purchases into reusable bags and plastic bins, as well as old plastic bags. Many had already switched to cloth bags, part of a growing movement against single-use plastic bags.

“The idea is a good thing,” said shopper Oscar Trachsel of Metchosin. “People will get used to it.”

Langford’s Nancy Peddie, who packed close to $200 worth of groceries into plastic bags saved from previous shopping trips, agreed. “There are too many [plastic bags] out there.”

The 127,500-square-foot Langford store is the second Superstore in the chain to eliminate plastic bags, as part of the company’s goal of reducing the number dumped in landfills by a billion a year. The first was in Milton, Ont., where the move was “very, very popular,” said Lori Stene, spokeswoman for parent company Loblaw Cos. Ltd. “People in general are looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible.”

About 950,000 plastic bags a year were distributed from the Langford store prior to the ban. To replace them, the store has sent Langford households reusable bags made from 85 per cent recycled plastic water bottles, Stene said. The bags are selling for two for 99 cents until Dec. 8. Area residents also received a coupon for a free plastic bin with a minimum purchase of $25.

Lana Popham of Central Saanich showed up at the store yesterday with a letter congratulating the company, and is urging other grocery chains to follow the example. She wants a ban on disposable plastic bags in the region by the end of 2008. “Timing is everything and I think people are ready for this change. People are sick of wasting.”

Environmentalists say Canadians use about 10 billion plastic bags a year. Many end up in the ocean, where they look like jellyfish and are swallowed by animals such as whales, sea turtles and sea birds, Popham said. Dumped in landfills, the bags have been predicted to last up to 1,000 years.

The move to ban or limit the bags is global. Tiny towns like Leaf Rapids, Man., to big cities like San Francisco, have banned the bags, while Ireland has a “plastax” of about 20 cents per bag.

Already, most grocery store chains in Greater Victoria sell reusable bags, and many pay customers a few cents for each bag they reuse.

Date with the CRD.

I have received the date that I am able to present my case. I have approximatley 5 minutes to speak in front of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) on December 13th. I have received many letters of support and I am excited about that. But, I could always use more.
I will be requesting a total ban on plastic grocery bags, with a second request trailing behind. My second request will be, that if the CRD in unprepared to grant my first request, they consider a total education campaign about reusable bags. This education campaign would be loaded with the facts about the damage plastic bags do to our environment. It would explain the waste factor. Basically education would drive a voluntary ban. This would be money well spent!
Even if they decide that my first request is reasonable, education would have to accompany it.
I am excited to speak with them!

Comment by the TC!

Editorial: The end of plastic bags

Times Colonist

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

So life ends for the ubiquitous white plastic grocery bag. Only 30 years ago, it muscled paper bags aside at the checkout counter, a triumph of technology and petrochemicals.

And tomorrow, the plastic bag gets shoved out in its turn, as the Langford Real Canadian Superstore quits keeping the bags on hand for customers. More than any talk of bans or taxes, this signals the beginning of the end for the plastic bag.

After all, this isn't some organic food market in Fairfield that's giving plastic the push in favour of hemp bags. The Superstore is a classic big-box shrine to shopping. If the green winds are blowing strongly enough to sweep plastic bags from its bank of checkout counters, then their future looks bleak everywhere.

Superstore is getting rid of the bags as part of the effort by parent Loblaw Companies to go green. British Columbians use about 1.3 billion bags a year -- 3.5 million a day.

Even with reuse, more than 95 per cent of the bags end up in landfills -- or waving sadly from tree branches and fence lines.

Defenders end up arguing mainly that other environmental issues are more important. They do say the bags don't contribute much volume to waste and that if people don't get them at the store, they'll just end up buying other plastic bags to use around the house.

But waste is waste. The bags have acquired a symbolic importance, showcasing our willingness to use hydrocarbons to create a product with a lifespan of days that remains in the environment -- including the oceans -- for centuries.

Other jurisdictions have taken steps to curb the plastic bag's use. Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags -- about 22 cents -- in 2002. Their use has fallen by 90 per cent since then. Communities from Leaf Rapids, Man., to San Francisco have banned the bags. London has joined other British communities in seeking legislation bringing a ban.

The action by Superstore suggests the change is coming in Canada with or without government action. The company, an astute marketer, has decided the public today is opting for the environment over convenience.

More than that, the ban shows just how much our attitudes have shifted toward environmental concern.

Just 40 years ago, we welcomed plastic bags as yet another example of modern life's ability to deliver up new improved versions of whatever came before.

Now, we're looking back to cloth bags and carry carts, choosing conservation over convenience. It's a welcome change.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

A bold move.....Who is next to step up?

Langford store B.C.'s first to ban plastic bags

CanWest News Service

Published: Friday, November 09, 2007

VANCOUVER -- Shoppers at the Real Canadian Superstore in Langford will notice a big change when they check out their groceries beginning next Thursday: no plastic bags.

As part of the national retailer's green initiative, the grocery chain has selected the West Shore store -- which is being relaunched next week -- to be what it calls the first major grocery and general merchandise retail store in B.C. to eliminate traditional plastic bags at the checkout.

As part of the plan, each household in Langford will be mailed a complementary reusable "green bag" and a coupon for a free "green box" with a minimum $25 purchase. The green box fits into a shopping cart and holds the equivalent of three to five plastic bags worth of groceries.

Until Dec. 8, shoppers will be offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal for the green bag and $1 off additional green boxes.

As well, shoppers may bring in any reusable bag, even from another retailer, for their purchases.

According to its news release, Loblaw Companies Ltd. made a commitment in April to reduce one billion plastic grocery bags from Canada's landfills within one year.

It said that reducing the number of plastic grocery bags offered in stores and offering more sustainable choices, will help achieve this goal. Currently, the release stated, Canadians use about 10 billion plastic bags per year.

IN THE BAG

- Estimated number of plastic bags that are handed out worldwide each minute: one million.

- Estimated number of plastic bags that end up in landfills each year worldwide: 500 billion to one trillion.

- Estimated volume of plastic bags that end up in Canadian landfills each year: 28 million kilograms.

- Number of plastic bags Canadians use each year: 10 billion.

- Number of plastic bags that Loblaw Companies Limited hopes to reduce from Canada's landfills in a year: one billion.

- Estimated energy equivalent saved when one tonne of plastic bags is reused or recycled: 11 barrels of oil.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

Bags of Bags!

Ban bags? But what will I put my garbage in? Let me tell you, if I had a plastic bag for every time I heard this...I would have bags and bags and bags of bags!
All kidding aside, this is a really good question. What to put our garbage in? Let's face it, plastic grocery bags are the perfect size for going under the sink to collect our waste. So there is a reuse for them....just not all of them. I have gone and purchased "Biobags" from the grocery store. They are not cheap. They come to about .50cents a bag. They are compostable and biodegradable. So that is an option. I like it because it makes me reconsider what is going into the garbage as waste. It makes me think about what I am buying. So I am trying to choose more recyclable packaging instead of waste packaging. BUT...some people do not want to buy garbage bags. Fair enough. So here is a thought. If you must use plastic grocery bags for your garbage then only get the exact amount you need for garbage. Figure it out. Do you throw out 2 bags of garbage every week? Then limit your plastic bags consumption to two bags. The rest of the time use reusable bags. We don't need bags of bags under our sinks....
Enough ranting for one sunny day,
Lana

How can you help?

I am sitting here this evening and playing conversations over in my head from the days many phone calls. It is so great to get calls and emails from people who are 100% behind this idea. People who live in Victoria and the rest of Vancouver Island who have been living their life as if there already is a ban in place. What a great group of people. The question that is most frequently asked is this:

How can we help?

You can help me by writing a letter of support. I need as many letters of support as I can get to present to all Municipalities and to the CRD.

I need to be able to say:

"Look at these! These are letters from people in our CRD that care about our environment and care about our world. These are people who care enough to write a letter of support for this idea to reduce plastic bags in our region. These are people who are speaking with me!"

That's what I need from you.

Good night and thanks,

Lana

"If you can make it work here, You can make it work anywhere, it up to you, New York, New York"!

From: Edith Honan, Reuters
Published October 29, 2007 10:57 PM
New York may join crackdown on plastic bags
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City may follow an international trend and crack down on plastic shopping bags,
seeking to cut their use with a plan officials hope will be a model for other cities.
A proposal introduced on Monday requires stores larger than 5,000 square feet to set up an in-store recycling program
and sell reusable bags.
Some 700 food stores plus large retailers such as Target and Home Depot would have to collect used bags and provide
a system for turning them over to a manufacturer or to third-party recycling firms.
Stores would be required to use bags printed with a reminder to consumers: "Please return this bag to a participating
store for recycling."
Environmentalists have targeted plastic bags as a scourge that take years to biodegrade and contaminate soil and water.
"We think this strikes the right balance between conscience and convenience," said Councilman Peter Vallone, a co-
sponsor of the bill, which needs approval from the city council and environmentally minded Mayor Michael
Bloomberg.

The bill was expected to come to a vote within several months.
In 2002, Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags, reducing their use by 90 percent. Some communities in Australia have
banned them in retail stores since 2003.
In March, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets and the state of
California enacted a law in July that requires large stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse.
Americans use an estimated 84 billion plastic bags annually, and the production of plastic bags worldwide uses over 12
million barrels of oil per year, the council said.
Recycled bags can be used to produce new bags plus a variety of plastic products, including furniture.
Estimates vary widely for how long it takes plastic bags to decompose, and some environmentalists say it is impossible
to know because plastics have only been used commercially in recent decades.
© Reuters2007All rights reserved
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