BAG IT

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Bag It
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, July 1, 2007

Two of my lasting impressions of farmers’ markets are the smell of cigarettes and the abundance of plastic bags. To our good fortune, our local Farmers’ Market has recently banned smoking. I have also noticed that customers are bringing reusable bags and baskets to market for their produce.

Last week, I received an email from my recycling friend, Nancy McCoy, telling me that she had seen a notice at Costco informing customers that they will no longer provide carry-out plastic bags. It seems that they have opted not to participate in the new California plastic bag recycling law.

Last September, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2449. Effective today, July 1, 2007, AB 2449 establishes a 6-year pilot program requiring most large grocery stores and other retailers to create an in-store recycling program for the collection and recycling of plastic 'carry-out' bags.

The program includes labeling bags with a recycling message, placing recycling bins in visible locations, and selling reusable bags for customers to use in lieu of disposable ones. Most grocery stores are selling reusable bags for a dollar. My husband and I continue to use the denim shopping bags that I made 20 years ago.

Plastic bags may be convenient for customers, but they are causing havoc for local governments, storm drains and the marine environment.

Carry-out bags cost about a penny each. These penny bags cost local governments 17 cents for litter cleanup in order to comply with new federal regulations for our waterways. If these plastic bags are placed in recycling bins, they end up wrapping around the gears that run the conveyor belts at the recycling centers necessitating repairs and down time.

Every year, plastic debris also kills marine and land animals through entanglement, suffocation, starvation and ingestion. It is estimated that plastic rubbish causes the deaths of 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles annually in the North Pacific.

In March, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors took a bold step and voted to outlaw plastic carry-out bags at large supermarkets and chain drug stores. Californians Against Waste estimates each Californian uses about 764 carry-out plastic bags per year. That’s 27.5 billion bags, enough to circle the earth over 348 times. It is estimated that less than 5 percent of these bags are recycled. Even when bags are properly discarded, they can become litter by flying out of trash cans, garbage trucks and landfills.

The United States annually consumes more than 100 billion plastic bags. That equals approximately 48 million barrels of oil. Not making or using these plastic bags saves energy and oil.

What happens to all these bags? Are they truly recycled? Collected plastic bags are rarely made into new plastic bags. Most are combined with waste wood or sawdust and made into plastic lumber that eventually ends up in the landfill.

This writer truly believes that this bill is a paltry stab at the problems of plastic bags. It doesn’t include all the other bags that contain spinach, bread, rice, beans, cereal, candy, cough drops, etc. We also need to tackle the other plastic food containers for cookies, pies, frozen dinners, and the like. Our legislators need to hold all manufacturers responsible for giving us these free containers. Currently consumers have to foot the bill for recycling or disposing these containers.

New E-waste drop off location

FMRC E-waste Recycling has moved from Vallejo to 4690 East 2nd Street #7 in Benicia. They are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no charge for dropping off televisions, computer monitors, CPUs and other electronic items. Call 707 551-7072 for more information.

VALCORE Recycling Board Member Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call her at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.