reusable bags

An article in the Peninsula Daily News this week announced that Port Townsend, Washington will be joining the growing ranks of towns in which plastic bags have been banned. According to contributor Charlie Bermant, plastic bags will be banned, and a 5 cent tax will be levied on all regular sized paper bags. The ban excludes plastic bags covering newspapers and dry cleaning, and the tax on paper bags excludes smaller bags for produce. These measures have been implemented to encourage shoppers to bring their own, reusable bags. Writes Bermant:

In an article published by Eco-Business.com yesterday, VietnamNet reports that Dang Van Loi of the Department of Pollution Control has made his intentions to tighten control on plastic bags clear. According to the article, Loi's plans include tighter control over plastic bags from production to consumption to recovery, as well as the promotion of more environmentally friendly, reusable options. 

According to an article published on the Alaska Daily News website today, the town of Homer, Alaska is next on the list of towns to eliminate plastic bans, with a partial ban set to go into effect beginning January 1st. Contributor Michelle Boots writes that  the ban, which was passed on Monday, is one of the few pieces of legislation of the sort that exist in Alaska. Boots reports:

The ordinance bars businesses from giving customers disposable plastic shopping bags less than 2.25 millimeters thick that are "not suitable for continuous reuse."

Mayor Sukhee Kang of Irvine, California, has announced that he wants the Irvine City Council to consider a ban on plastic bags in order to reduce the harmful effects that have on the environment, according to the Orange County Register today. While he has stated that he does not necessarily support an all-out ban, he would certainly like to review the options that exist to lower the impact of plastic bags. According to writer Thomas Martinez:

by Scott Harrison, Rise Above Plastics

This is one of the best ideas we've seen in a long time. In an effort to reduce plastic pollution while benefitting the local economy, the We Love Leith campaign in the town of Leith, Scotland launched the Bonus Bag scheme in 2009. The program is two-fold: First, people who carry the bag with them will be eligible for discounts at various Leith-based businesses, thereby encouraging local shopping. Second, by distributing the bags and incentivizing their use, the city is effectively reducing plastic pollution without negatively impacting local businesses in any way.

Yesterday, in newspapers throughout California, a nonprofit innocently named the Center for Consumer Freedom, ran a full page ad emblazoned with the ominous headline: “Your Family’s Grocery List Shouldn’t Include Lead and Bacteria.” Under those words is a picture of a reusable bag, wrapped in yellow caution tape, and some explanatory paragraphs warning consumers about the lead- and bacteria-tainted reusable bags from China.