Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / April 30, 2009, edition 1 / Page 20
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Qampus Vaice Thursday, April 30, 2009 {The Blue Banner} Ineffective anti-plastic bag poiicies damage environment « ^1^+1-. Kr>/> +/-V rtrfKr\T +1^=»1T* ( While San Francisco’s plastic bag ban looks like it helps the environ ment, the lower energy costs and re cycling ability of plastic prove other wise. San Francisco’s legislature passed an ordinance in 2007 banning plastic bags from grocery stores and pharma cies. By doing so, they remain the ex ception and not the rule, according to the American Chemistry Council. The ban prohibits stores with more than $2 million in sales or pharmacies with five or more locations from of fering traditional plastic bags to cus tomers. Affected stores can only use compostable plastic bags, recyclable paper or reusable bags, according to the San Francisco ordinance. Robert Lilienfeld, editor of the Use Less Stuff Report, visited San Fran cisco after the legislators passed the ban. He went to several different chains affected by the ban including Kroger, Whole Foods and Walgreens. Lilienfeld found several retailers went back to using paper bags, which if recyclable, the ordinance allows. Additionally, he found customers didn’t bring their own bags regularly. Further, he reported plastic recy cling bins were almost nonexistent or the employees of some stores were unaware of the bins. Asheville grocery stores are em bracing this idea. Earthfare allows customers to bring in their own bags or use store boxes to pack groceries. If customers still want plastic, they pay 5 cents per bag. “We are trying to do our part to go green,” said Kipp McDermott, assis tant store manager of Earthfare. Paper bags require more energy to produce. The ACC reports recyclable plastic bags use 70 percent less energy to make than paper bags. Addition ally, they report plastic bags require 91 percent less energy to recycle than paper bags. So San Francisco doesn’t help the environment by banning plastic bags By Tom McLean Staff Writer TJMCLEAN@UNCA.EDU Even though plastic bags require less energy to produce than paper bags, people might want to argue plastic bags hurt the environment. and allowing paper bags, and this runs against the national trend. Most cities across the nation, in cluding Los Angeles and Chicago, promote plastic bag recycling be cause they see the value it holds, ac cording to the ACC. From recycled plastic we get construction materials, fencing and more bags, according to the ACC. But this also presents a problem. “They take over 1,000 years to breakdown in the landfill, and only 1 to 3 percent of plastic bags actually get recycled,” McDermott said. Even though plastic bags require less energy to produce than paper bags, people might want to argue plas tic bags hurt the environment. Actually, the impact doesn’t hurt quite as much as people might think. Plastic bags make up a small part of the waste included in the U.S. mu nicipal solid waste stream, according to the ACC. The EPA reports the waste stream to be collected garbage, and what doesn’t get recycled, like paper and yard waste ends up in the landfill. ulation#u^^^g|fea: plastic bagi^^fe _ _ to www.reusablebagstcom wortidls Otnflb 13^’gslDerJminute The ACC reported grocery store and retail plastic bags make up less than .5 percent of the total waste stream. The group also reports more than 90 per cent of Americans reuse their plastic bags, which is a form of recycling. The San Francisco ordinance lists compostable plastic bags as one type of plastic bag grocery stores can use. “They’ll breakdown if you put them in an industrial size landfill,” McDer- ' mott said. So reusable bags, which must be made of certain materials, remain the final kind of bag people can use. The ordinance defines a reusable bag as one made of cloth or other washable fabric or plastic that is at least 2.25 mm thick. Realistically, this benefits the envi ronment the most. Once people start using a cloth bag to carry their gro ceries in, they can be used for quite a while. Also, Earthfare allows customers to use leftover boxes from grocery ship ments to pack groceries, or they can bring their own bag, according to Mc Dermott. “We’ve had a really high success rate with the way we’re doing it, McDermott said. “And we have clotli bags.” On the local level, you can do tnc same thing as well if you want to cut down on the number of bags you usC' But you have to remember to take them into the store. With Lilienfeld reporting fewC people taking in their own bags, pet' haps people need an incentive. Although Earthfare charges fuj plastic hags, the environment can still benefit. “We do offer them. There is a 5 ceU charge per plastic bag,” McDermott said, adding the store donates this rev enue to a nonprofit, which customer^ may choose. “We have one for cleu*’ energy, one for environmental and oU® for animal and wildlife.” In terms of the environment, citic® need to go ahead and start banniu^ paper hags. They require a lot of eU' ergy to create, and even though they might be recyclable, as the ordinane^ requires, people can do a lot bettet through plastic or their own bags. We need to continue the nation® trend of recycling plastic bags and promotion of cloth bags. Start makiA a difference by asking retailers abol* incentives for such an action. By thinking about the environmeU ; and by looking at the actual numbefi' we not only educate ourselves on ho" we can improve ourselves, we also what fails. “We’re not really doing it to coi7 pete with anyone,” McDermott sai ^ “We’re just doing it because it’s tu right thing to do. And hopefully oth^^ businesses will see it’s the right thi’^'^ to do and will follow suit.”
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April 30, 2009, edition 1
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