From Stark
The proposed state law that would extend Bellingham-style plastic shopping bag prohibition from the 49th parallel to the banks of the Columbia has been labeled “DOA” on the blog run by Political Junkie Riley Sweeney, via his “Legislative Junkie” Olympia correspondent.
(If Sweeney Legislative Junkie is wrong and the state bill does become law, the impact on Bellingham would apparently be minimal, since the state law incorporates all the major features of the Bellingham ordinance. That ordinance takes effect on Aug. 1, 2012.)
Sweeney Legislative Junkie also notes that if past experience is any indication, the plastic bag industry would likely spend the money to mount a repeal initiative if the measure passes. The industry is already firing PR salvos at the proposed state legislation–which enjoys backing from major retailers.
Environmentalists want to protect the whales from plastic bags. Retailers want to protect themselves from a mosaic of local bag ordinances.
Here’s some industry rebuttal that hit my inbox Thursday, Jan. 12. It was provided by a PR firm working for Hilex Poly, a major plastic bag manufacturer.
Begin press release:
How many Washington jobs will be at risk if we ban plastic bags?
More than 1,000 Washingtonians are employed by plastic bag manufacturing, distributing and recycling companies across the state.
What are U.S. plastic bags made of? What are reusables made of?
American-made plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable and made from natural gas. Reusable bags, on the other hand, are made overseas using foreign oil.
Will banning plastic bags increase use of other plastics?
Nine out of ten people say they reuse plastic bags for every day uses. Banning them will push consumers to buy heavier gauge plastic bags to replace them.
What’s the carbon footprint of plastic bags vs. paper or reusables?
2,000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds; 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. Paper takes up more space in landfills and uses more energy and water to produce and transport. Plastic bags create 80 percent less waste. Reusables are manufactured overseas and are imported.
Can reusable bags be recycled?
No. Reusable bags are not recyclable.
How many heavy-plastic reusable bags are imported to the U.S. each year?
Over 500 million are imported annually from countries like China. New York Magazine wrote “reusable shopping bags have proliferated so greatly that ecoactivists are worried about surplus sacks winding up in landfills.” (12/4/11)
How many times does a cloth reusable bag need to be used to be a ‘greener’ option than plastic?
393 times, according to a U.K. government study.
Why not increase recycling instead?
Recycling addresses all forms of plastic films from newspaper and dry cleaning wraps to toilet paper packaging. The U.S. EPA reports that 14.1 percent of bags, sacks and wraps are recycled, a jump of 24 percent alone between 2009 and 2010. Recycling is working and creating green jobs. There will be no market to recycle these films if a ban is passed.
What percentage of litter is made up of plastic bags?
Various litter studies have consistently shown that plastic bags make up only one to two percent of all litter. Singling out one product will not address the greater issue of litter.
Are plastics bags the most abundant form of litter in the marine environment?
NOAA’s Fifth International Marine Debris Conference last year and its draft of the conference’s Honolulu Strategy highlights that the most pressing concern is educating people to reduce derelict fishing gear and general solid waste – not specific products such as plastic bags.
Learn more: www.bagtheban.com
(End press release)
Mark Daniels, Hilex Poly’s vice president of sustainability and environmental policy, has already testify before the Washington Senate Committee on Environment about the issue.
Quick clarification: I did not declare this dead on arrival. This was a column written by a guest writer under the pseudonym The Legislative Junkie. He works full-time down in Olympia. I publish his column on my blog so that he can share his insight with us up here in Bellingham.
Oops. Sorry, Riley. Haste makes waste again. I’m going to amend the post.
Good job Riley. You just supplied the necessary talking points for all the conservatives that don’t want anything to change. Now they won’t even need to go to Fox News for those points. Most everything in the press release is ludicrous… a few points are pertinent. Distrust PR from the corporations just as much as PR from progressives or liberals. The best PR acknowledges weaknesses… speaks a global truth. Not just the corporate truth.
I’m happy to recycle the plastic bags that we get now. Not just from shopping, but just about any packaged good has a plastic bag in it and plastic bags of air are now the standard material to cushion goods during shipping.
However, if I want to recycle them I have to go downtown to SSC to do it. Which I don’t mind doing. What I do mind is taking the time to go into the office and paying $5 for the privilege of giving them raw material to recycle. I already pay enough for garbage and recycling, why an extra $5 and 10 minutes of my time just to drop off a plastic bag full of plastic bags?
“With such a difficult economy and high local unemployment rate, now is not the time to increase grocery bills. Proponents have disguised this as an effort to improve the environment; however, a better, freedom-based solution would be to educate the public about the importance of recycling and to promote the proper use of reusable bags…
In 2007, San Francisco imposed a plastic-bag ban on supermarkets and pharmacies. A city-sponsored study showed that well after the ban went into effect plastic bags as a portion of city litter hadn’t changed – and was only 0.6 percent of the overall litter composition. Furthermore, just a few days ago even that most liberal city declined to extend the ban to smaller retailers because of the negative economic impact….
http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/73/?p=article&sid=217&id=250059
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
hey james: I was the one who posted the corporate pr. Not Riley.
Corporate PR, like all PR, is offered on a FWIW basis.
PR is PR but the truth has no agenda therefore with truth does it really matter from where it came?
BTW everything you read, hear or see should always be TWAGOS!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Afy, you’re quoting Diane Harkey, not a real study.
“Harkey is politically a conservative Republican: she supports Proposition 13, is in favor of controlling illegal immigration to the United States and opposes Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants.[2] She is considered pro-life having been endorsed by the California Pro-Life Council.[3] She has earned a 100% rating from the California Chamber of Commerce[4]”
Wikipedia
We pay for the bags one way or the other: either by pulling nickles out of our wallet, or when the cost is rolled into the price of goods we buy. The real question is what’s wrong with decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels?
So, the article says that paper bags weigh more and take up more space in the landfills. What the article doesn’t say is that the paper bags are totally biodegradable and can even be shredded and used in compost or recycled to make more paper bags. The plastic bags, not so much.
In addition, the paper bags are mostly made of recycled materials. I don’t care if you ban the plastic bags, but don’t charge me for the paper bags that have always been free.
Yes, Bellingham and other cities that have enacted the fees on paper bags can expect to see some business lost when the ban goes into effect, but think of all the gas that will be saved with people shopping closer to home.
This issue is pathetic. It’s a great triumph for self-righteousness – I understand prohibitionists were just as pleased with themselves when the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified. But the bag ban has little hope of delivering what was promised. There will still be plastic bags, and there will still be litter. Yes, bags have been banned in Europe in many places for quite a while, but there’s still litter there.
The truth is: Some folks not being responsible is the problem – not the bags, themselves. The eco-bags — “gross-ery” bags — are problematic, too. Most are made of nasty material, they need to be washed often, and they won’t disappear (poof) when their owners move on to new ones.
Regardless – the ban didn’t solve the real problem. I abhor litter, I make a point of getting it to a trash can when I can. But I won’t have a handy thin-walled bag to collect it anymore. And heck if I’ll want to use my mandatory eco-friendly grossery bag.
Did you catch this?
A good friend of mine once remarked on something he read; that a high percentage of people don’t have the mental capacity (or maybe it was the mental discipline) to think beyond the first step of a problem. The bag ban is an excellent example of that intellectual shortcoming.
Today’s paper opinion cartoon sums it up well, don’t ya know!
Methinks, humor can really expose how ridiculous some actions truly are!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Smart posting. Continue to keep up the very amazing performance.