SF saga continued

Continued from last post. Now they are trying a new approach:

January 19, 2007
City seeks to require compostable grocery bags
Charlie Goodyear, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA

San Francisco officials said Thursday that they will pursue a new law requiring all grocery bags used in the city to be compostable after sparring with large supermarket chains over implementation of a voluntary reduction and recycling effort...

This AP story appeared from San Jose to London:

January 19, 2007
SF grocers say they used 7.6M fewer plastic bags in '06
Associated Press, San Francisco, CA

Grocery stores that participated in a citywide plan to reduce the use of plastic bags handed out 7.6 million fewer sacks to shoppers in 2006 than the year before, an industry trade group said...

SF struggles to deal with it's bags

A plastic bag saga: San Francisco city officials vs. the big supermarkets:

January 20, 2007
3 grocery chains give plastic-bags data
Charlie Goodyear

Three supermarket chains that operate in San Francisco met a Friday deadline to provide statistics on the number of plastic bags handed out to shoppers last year, city officials said...

January 24, 2007
Bill introduced to punish grocers for bags
Joshua Sabatini

After failing to adhere to a voluntary agreement to reduce plastic bag usage, large grocery stores in San Francisco may soon be required by law to use only environmentally friendly check-out bags...

Plastic Free Year in Vancouver

This lady rocks! She is making 2007 a plastic free zone - not buying products that contain or are packaged in plastic. Sounds simple? What about toothpaste (the cap), toilet paper (wrapped in plastic), the morning paper (rainy day protection)... She's blogging about her adventures in the no-plastic zone:

January 31, 2007
Progress Report

Plastic Free, Vancouver, Canada

I’ve finished my first month living plastic free in 2007. Wow, what a difference a New Year's resolution can make. Check out this picture of my plastic shrine...

Artists want photos of bags

These Chicago based artists are soliciting photos of your plastic bag collections. Before you crochet them into hammocks or wrap your leftovers with them (because your not going to throw them away right?!), take a picture and send it to these guys. They will do something interesting with it I'm sure:

Feb. 1, 2007

Temporary Services - We Still Need Your Help

For the past few months we have been re-using plastic shopping bags in a variety of ways for upcoming projects in Chicago and Zagreb. The enormous waste created by these bags is a global phenomena with impact everywhere. Most people wind up with more of these bags than they can ever re-use....

Bring your own bag to the Student Co-op

A student at Swarthmore passes on a lesson from down under:

Feb. 1, 2007
Recycle bags
Marshall Morales, The Phoenix, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, US

Throughout Australia and New Zealand, I noticed a simple and powerful change for green living. Environmental action groups have worked with supermarkets and other stores to charge for the normally free plastic bags used to carry purchases...

Plastic Bag Free Month in York

Caroline Lewis, owner of The Good Food Shop, in York, has declared February "Plastic Bag Free Month":

Feb. 1, 2007
Owner claims bagging rights

The Press, York, UK

MORE than 100,000 tonnes of plastic bags are thrown away every year in the UK, taking up to 500 years to break down in landfill sites. That shocking statistic has inspired one York shop owner to take action...

O'Mama says "Pick up that mess!"

The crunchy mamas are getting the word out:

Reusable Bags Tackle Plastic Bag Mess
Vincent Cobb, O'Mama Report

Introduced merely 25 years ago, plastic bags are accumulating in our environment at an alarming rate. They're everywhere: strewn along roadways, stuck in trees, and piled up beneath our kitchen sinks. New, eco-conscious businesses are helping battle this growing problem by raising awareness and offering effective, affordable, high-quality products that help reduce plastic bag consumption...