BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
During the past few years, national, state and local governments all over the world have been acknowledging what environmentalists have been saying for decades: the use of disposable plastic bags is creating an ecological crisis of global proportions. Now, a regional environmental group, Heal the Bay, has convinced many Southern California cities, major retailers and civic organizations to support the second annual “Day Without A Bag.”
On December 9, the Signal Hill and Long Beach city councils each unanimously adopted resolutions to proclaim Thursday, December 18 as “Day Without A Bag” in their respective city boundaries. Although the resolutions do not have the force of law, they are a strong encouragement to residents to eventually eliminate the use of disposable plastic bags.
Last week, Barbara Munoz, Signal Hill Director of Public Works, presented a report to the city council that contained some sobering statistics. According to Munoz, more than six billion plastic bags are used in Los Angeles County each year and it costs the region’s financially strapped cities as much as 17 cents to dispose of each bag. Munoz also noted that plastic bags are made from the earth’s rapidly shrinking supply of fossil fuels and Americans use more than 380 billion such bags each year, which amounts to throwing away vast quantities of a non-renewable resource.
In a similar report, presented to the Long Beach City Council, Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal said that the bags create serious litter problems for all area municipalities and damage the marine environment. “According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, over 1 million birds, 100,000 marine animals and countless fish die each year through the ingestion of and entanglement in marine debris, which includes an increasing number of plastic bags,” Lowenthal said.
Munoz pointed out that since 2007, the environmental program division of the public works department has been promoting the use of renewable bags. “Through the use of grant funds from the California Department Division of Recycling, the city has purchased and handed out over 400 reusable bags made from 100-percent recyclable materials,” she said. The reusable bags are available for free to Signal Hill residents and may be picked up at City Hall, the library and the Signal Hill Community Center.
“The use of reusable bags assists in the prevention of plastic bags polluting city streets and sewers and ultimately from flowing into the Pacific Ocean with storm water runoff,” Munoz said.
Echoing Lowenthal’s comments, Matthew King, spokesperson for Heal the Bay, noted that California municipalities spend about $50 million each year to collect and dispose of plastic bag waste. “Fewer than five percent of plastic grocery bags are recycled each year in (the Los Angles area), so the remainder clogs precious landfill, litters public spaces and harms animal life when the bags infiltrate the waterways,” he said.
Currently, Heal the Bay and other organizations are lobbying the state legislature to impose a fee on disposable plastic grocery bags. King said the City of Los Angeles has committed to ban plastic bags altogether if the statewide fee has not been established by 2010. Other cities are considering similar bans or ordinances aimed at curtailing the use of disposable plastic bags.
This year, the county and 33 Los Angeles County cities including Los Angeles itself are participating in “Day Without A Bag.”
In addition, a diverse mix of large and small businesses, civic groups and nonprofit organizations will be offering either free bags or special promotions to encourage the use of non-disposable cloth bags. “We have nearly quadrupled the number of giveaway sites for this year’s Day Without A Bag,” said Mark Gold, Heal the Bay president. “It reflects the growing groundswell in (Southern California) for reusable bags, which not only save the environment but taxpayer dollars as well.”
Gold added that the heavy-duty reusable bags are convenient, environmentally friendly alternatives that have been embraced by millions around the world. “Ireland has been able to reduce its use of disposable grocery bags by 90 percent since 2001 via public programs,” he said.
Local city officials are hoping to achieve a similar success in California. “The long-term goal is to reduce the use of disposable, single-use plastic bags throughout the state by empowering shoppers and the community at large to take simple, direct actions to eliminate unsightly debris and save taxpayer dollars,” Munoz said.
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster added, “As we buy our gifts for the holidays, it is important to note that this can be one small way for residents to help the environment.”
To find out the nearest locations where free reusable cloth bags are available, go to www.healthebay.org/nobagday.
