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Plastic shopping bags have become the bane of my existence. They are ubiquitous, everywhere you look. Plastic shopping bags are far and away the most common source of trash. I've even seen crows and other birds incorporating them into their nests! This madness must end!

Its become something of a crusade of mine to eliminate plastic shopping bags from my life. The first and most important way to crush the scourge of the plastic bags is to bring your own bags. Canvas bags of all sizes, colors, and configurations are available commercially, please refer to http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp for our range of re-usable bags.

It's vital to keep a supply of durable bags in the car— it is even more vital to remember to bring them into the store, however! And furthermore, because you will inevitably forget to bring them in, you must have a willingness to run out to your car to fetch the bags before (or after) checking out.

  Sometimes, for whatever reason, I don't have my canvas bags around. These times are when one must be the most vigilant. The people dispensing plastic bags at stores are truly passionate about their cause. They really want you to take home your goods in a plastic bag! "Oh, no bag please," you'll say at first. Then you'll see them reach for a bag anyway. "Please, I don't want any plastic bags," you must insist. And then finally, when they make that last deseperate attempt to foist a bag upon you, you must grab your items and walk away. Quizzical looks inevitably will follow, but you can walk proud in the knowledge that you just introduced one fewer plastic shopping bag into our world.

We must end the tyranny of plastic shopping bags in our world— if we don't use them or accept them, they will no longer exist!

 

What would it take for you to revolt against every accepting a plastic bag from a store again? A sea animal choking on one? A landfill in 2500 filled with decomposed matter, and plastic? A a shortage of oil? Having to choose between the deodorant container or the bag to take it home in…?

“Every time a shopper chooses paper or plastic they have to make the wrong choice, but are not even offered the right one. We just want so make sure that people know of the third option!"

If we all changed the habitual declaration of our paper or plastic preference to cloth or “I brought my own," we would collectively save 4 billion dollars and 14 million trees from the industry of shopping bag production.

Scientists debate over how long a single plastic bag will take to decompose but let's just put it this way- if you swallowed a supermarket plastic bag at birth, it would still be the most solid material remaining in your coffin after your body breaks down. That doesn’t seem right…or fair. Polyethylene, the most common shopping bag material, is a man-made polymer that microorganisms simply don’t recognize as food; therefore, nothing wants to break it down, so it sits in our landfill (or body) indefinitely. Paper bags will break down, but they are still disposable. The responsible option is to opt for the cloth bag that can be used over and over and over and over… So on this day when you go into that convenience store, don’t let your soda get packaged in a small polyethylene bag that will outlive the complex composition known as your body.

Paper, plastic - or designer label?

Those were the options at a handful of Whole Foods stores in the metropolitan area Wednesday, when the organic- and natural-foods chain offered shoppers the $15 Anya Hindmarch bags emblazoned with the phrase "I'm not a plastic bag." True to its reputation, the reusable cotton shopping bag - which was being sold as a one-time event - drew more than 200 people to the Whole Foods in Jericho at 6 a.m., and more than 600 lined up at the newest Manhattan location at Bowery and Houston.

Many may have been motivated by the low price of one of the London designer's bags, which can run upward of $1,400. The point of the campaign, however, is to make people think about reducing the use of plastic shopping bags.


Old issue is new again

This is not the first time retailers and environmental groups have touched on the topic, but in recent years the issue has gained new traction with many supermarket chains introducing programs to encourage their customers to stop using plastic bags.

"At this point, it's safe to say it's a growing trend," said Jennifer Powers, spokeswoman for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Consumers and retailers alike are trying to find ways to have less of an impact on the environment and reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible."

The perils most associated with the conventional plastic bag are that they are not biodegradable, sometimes taking as long as a thousand years to disintegrate, during which time they can kill wildlife that eat them, and pollute bodies of water.

But the production process should be a major concern as well, Powers emphasized. The bags are made from a petroleum product, so the 30 billion plastic bags that the NRDC estimates U.S. consumers use annually require 12 million barrels of oil to produce, she said.

A Worldwatch Institute statistic cited by IKEA, which has started a plastic-bag reduction program, says each year Americans throw away about 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags and only 0.6 percent of such bags are recycled.

And paper has its own problems, Powers said. U.S. consumers use 10 billion paper bags annually, requiring 14 million trees in the production process.

"We say that choosing between paper or plastic, you're offered a false choice," Powers said. "Neither is ideal. We recommend bringing your own reusable bag. That's the best option."

In March, IKEA began charging customers 5 cents for plastic bags and introduced its own large plastic tote - the Big Blue Bag - for 59 cents. Proceeds from the 5-cent plastic bag sales will be donated to American Forests, a nonprofit conservation group that plants trees to restore forests and offset CO2 emissions.

IKEA has goal for U.S.

In the United Kingdom, the program succeeded in reducing plastic bag consumption among its customers by 95 percent over the previous year, the company said. IKEA's goal in the United States is to reduce the plastic bags used by its shoppers by half, from 70 million to 35 million.

Retailers aren't the only ones taking up the cause. San Francisco is the first city to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags, requiring chain supermarkets and pharmacies to offer compostible and biodegradable bags later this year.

Assemb. William Colton (D-Brooklyn) has proposed two similar bills, one banning non-biodegradable plastic bags outright and the other requiring distribution of the bags to be cut by 50 percent in the first two years and banned after that.

A petroleum problem

"In today's world of energy crisis and global warming, to make something out of oil to be used one time and then thrown away only to end up in a landfill, there's something wrong about that," Colton said.

While some customers were uncomfortable with the initiative at first, the response has been favorable in this country, said Mona Astra Liss, IKEA spokeswoman. The company hasn't released numbers yet, but Liss said the program has exceeded its expectations.

King Kullen and its organic and natural food stores, Wild By Nature, have bins for recycling plastic bags, and both stores also are selling 99-cent reusable shopping bags.

A&P and all of its associated supermarket chains, including Waldbaum's and Food Emporium, debuted four reusable shopping bags for 99 cents in November. The company is donating a portion of the sales to the Elizabeth Haub Foundation - an organization named after the grandmother of the company's executive chairman and dedicated to international environmental protection and preservation.

"They're beautiful pieces," said Richard De Santa, A&P spokesman. "They're sturdy and you reuse them and they are a long way from the brown paper bag. The main thing is to reduce the amount of plastic and non-recyclables flowing into waste stream."

A rebate incentive

Whole Foods has always had a program of giving a rebate to customers who bring their own bags (the price recently increased from 5 cents to 10 cents) and has sold its own reusable mesh bags for $1.

"I think a lot of our shoppers have already been doing this," said Fred Shank, a Whole Foods spokesman. "But a program like this brings more people into the circle and has people beginning to think about the plastic bag issue more and more."

For well more than a decade, Pathmark has had a 2-cent rebate for people who reused their plastic bags. But this past winter, the company introduced a reusable 99-cent shopping bag, selling out the initial inventory of more than 100,000 bags within two months, said Rich Savner, Pathmark spokesman.

"The plastic bag and recycling bag focus has gained a lot of momentum," Savner said. "And we wanted to make sure we were in step with the public and what they were looking for as well as being environmentally conscious."

Want to get in on the latest trend? Then start saying no to the plastic bag. Don’t think you can? Here are a few tips on how to turn down the plastic bag at the register.

Bring your own. It makes it easier to say no to the bag when you have another to put things in. A small canvas bag works for most on the go purchases and can be found just about every where, in all sorts of colors. If you want to support a cause with your bag, your local public library, public radio station, or your favorite organization may have canvas bags for sale with their logo, check out our range of canvas bags at http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp

For larger quantity purchases such as a trip to the grocery store you’ll probably need larger bags and a few more of them. Many grocery stores have cloth shopping bags available for purchase at the register. Whole Foods has some available right now for $1 each, and they also offer a bag discount, giving you a ten-cents off for each bag you bring. Trader Joes is another location that offers reusable bags on the go. (This is also handy if you forget your bags.)

Bringing your own will also prepare you for those times you go into establishments that charge you for plastic bags. Ikea, for example, has recently started charging U.S. customers five cents for every bag used. Of course this isn’t new to those in Europe, where several countries have been charging customers for bags for a while.

Remember to bring your own. It’s one thing to own the reusable bag, it’s another thing altogether in remembering to bring it with you. Many bags can fold up fairly small and can fit in a pocket or purse. Keep your bags in your car so they’ll be handy for the next trip to the store, or keep them at the office if you pick things up on the way home or use public transportation. The most important thing here is once your goods have made it safely to the house, take the bags back out to the car or return them to the office for next time.

Ignore the confused looks and blank stares. Until this new trend catches on everywhere, you’ll probably get some resistance from store clerks when you say you don’t want a bag. You may also need to assist grocery store checkers/baggers with your bags until they get used to the concept. And remember, it is okay to say no even after the clerk bags your item. Politely remove your purchase and hand the bag back.

Can’t find any bags near you? Check out our product images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp

The Chairman of the Supreme Committee organizing the 'Environment Friends' campaign, Dhari Hamad Al-Wazzan recently declared a first-of-a- kind awareness campaign in Kuwait calling for replacing plastic bags with paper ones as 'environment friendly' alternatives, reported Al-Watan.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the campaign, Al-Wazzan added that the campaign comprised of distributing awareness brochures to the public explaining the dangers of the non-biodegradable basic material of plastic bags and their role in causing cancer when used to carry food or contain items.

He said that over a million paper bags had already been distributed to all co-operative societies to be used instead of plastic ones in carrying various purchases. He also said that the campaign would officially kick-off after the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the summer and environment campaign committee Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmi said that the committee held its third meeting under the presence of the Ministry Of Social Affairs and Labor and the Public Authority for Youth and Sports.

During the meeting, the committee agreed that cleaning campaigns would be done for islands, beaches, residential suburbs and public streets every Thursday and the campaign would start next month.

The committee also decided that the first sea trip would be to Failaka Island in which boy scouts and youth clubs from the Ministry of Social Affairs would participate. They also decided that Salem Al-Mubarak would be the first street for the activities of the committee.

Al-Ajmi noted that the main aim of the cleaning campaign is to encourage having a more positive attitude towards the environment and to normalize different society sectors in order to serve the community and the environment.

Paper or plastic? It is a question that has long dogged grocery shoppers. But the debate may soon be settled for this maritime city, where a bill aimed at protecting marine life would ban plastic bags from all retail stores.

San Francisco enacted a ban in April, but it applies just to larger groceries and drugstores. Similar measures are being considered in Boston; Baltimore; Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Santa Monica, Calif.; and Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau and director of EarthEcho, an environmental education group in Washington, said, “Banning plastic makes sense for the simple reason that it takes more than 1,000 years to biodegrade, which means that every single piece of plastic we’ve ever manufactured is still around, and much of it ends up in the oceans killing animals.”

Ms. Cousteau attended a public meeting here on Monday to support the measure. More than 70 people attended the meeting.

The bill aims to help protect Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, whose fish and birds often die after ingesting discarded plastic bags. Stores would be required to offer paper bags made from recycled material under the bill, which goes to a final City Council vote in October.

Critics say the ban would be expensive and counterproductive.

“It sounds good until you consider the cost,” said Barry F. Scher, a spokesman for Giant Food, the grocery chain based in Landover, Md.

Instead of taking away plastic bags, which cost 2 cents each compared with 5 cents for paper bags, Annapolis should enforce its litter laws, Mr. Scher said.

He added that Giant already offered a 3-cent credit for every plastic bag that customers return to the store and that 2,200 tons of bags a year were recycled and turned into backyard decks and park benches.

Paper bags are bulkier to transport than plastic bags, Mr. Scher added, and more trucks, fuel and pollution are involved in delivering them to stores.

“That may be true,” said Alderman Sam Shropshire, the sponsor of the bill here. “But what they don’t tell you is that to make 100 billion plastic checkout bags per year, which is how many we use in the U.S. each year, it takes 12 million barrels of oil. No oil is used to produce recycled paper checkout bags.”

Jeffrie Zellmer, legislative director of the Maryland Retailers Association, said it took far less energy to recycle plastic than to recycle paper. Mr. Zellmer added that 90 percent of retailers used plastic bags and that costs could increase threefold or sixfold, eventually reaching consumers.

The commercial recycling coordinator for the City and County of San Francisco, Jack Macy, said that nationally 1 percent of all plastic checkout bags were recycled. “That means the rest end up in landfill,” Mr. Macy said. “And so the argument about plastic recycling being energy efficient isn’t a strong one.”

“Look,” Mr. Shropshire said, “in the end, the best option is for people to bring their own reusable bags. But if they fail to do that, then they can use paper bags that biodegrade faster than plastic and yet do not require any trees to be cut down.”

At the hearing, a lobbyist for Safeway called the bill un-American, saying it would take choices away from consumers.

For now, Mayor Ellen O. Moyer of Annapolis, a Democrat, remains undecided on the measure.

A spokesman for Ms. Moyer, Ray Weaver, said the city planned to distribute reusable bags to residents by the fall. To accomplish that, Mr. Weaver said, the city is considering teaming with sail makers to use excess material that teenagers in a jobs program may sew into sacks.

“I think it’s a smart move,” said Jim Martin, owner of the Free State Press, a small printing and copy store several blocks from the State Capitol, as he ordered business cards for a City Council member to be delivered in a plastic bag.

Mr. Martin said he was more than willing to phase out the plastic bags because he was tired of the litter in the streets, trees and bay.

Brian Cahalan, owner of 49 West, a coffeehouse about two blocks from the Capitol, said that regardless of whether the measure passed, the debate had compelled him to act.

Though his store uses plastic bags, Mr. Cahalan said, he plans to encourage customers to use their own bags or none by adding a fee of 25 cents for each store bag used.

“That way,” he said, “we won’t have to figure out which of these two types of litter is worse.”

 

 

That was quite a a surreal image from Soho with people lined up for a city block waiting to purchase a limited-edition tote bag emblazoned with the slogan “I Am Not a Plastic Bag”. I believe it ran out wand was being sold on e-bay for $ 200 upwards!

 

Is it just the Anya Hindmarch signature or do they really care? Think they’d buy my version at half the price? I sure hope so!

Designers like Anya Hindmarch are making a big splash with canvas reusable bags. More than 80,000 people lined up to buy one of around 25,000 bags, which retailed for $15. Some of them turned up on eBay reselling for nearly $800.

What is it being sold? A canvas tote with a clever slogan. If you can think up one, why don’t you start your own ripple? Select a style from http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp and tell us what you’d like it to say and voila – you have your own craze! 

Want to be a celebrity? Sell the bags at a hefty price and give half your proceeds to a charity.

Sara Bonisteel has a nice story called “Behold the $800 Reusable Grocery Bag - Paper, plastic or Vuitton?” on Fox News. See what she says:

This season’s hottest bags are reusable grocery “shopping” bags that carry designer labels and price tags that run upwards of $895.

Stella McCartney and Hermes are among the designers offering reusable totes with the trip to market in mind. Yet, it is the U.S. arrival of British designer Anya Hindmarch’s “I am not a plastic bag” tote on Wednesday that has fashionistas in a tizzy.

“It comes at a time when there’s a bit of a backlash against ‘it’ bags, which is something that I’ve always hated anyway,” Hindmarch told FOXNews.com. “And I hope it’s becoming cool to be environmentally aware.”

Hindmarch’s limited-edition canvas bag caused a sensation when it launched in the U.K.in March as part of a nonprofit collaboration with We Are What We Do, a group that encourages individuals to take everyday actions to change the world.

A few thousand of the bags will go on sale Wednesday morning in New York and Los Angeles, with 20,000 more set to hit select Whole Foods on the East Coast on July 18. Emblazoned with blue bubbly writing that says “I am not a plastic bag,” the grocery totes are so stylish, they have found fans among the likes of Keira Knightley, model Petra Nemcova and Madonna.

“People are very desperate for them and I think in some ways the scarcity factor probably does cause awareness, which sort of helps, if you like, what we’re trying to achieve,” Hindmarch said.

Sara Snow, the host of “Get Fresh With Sara Snow” on the Discovery Health Channel, says that the use of reusable bags in America is finally catching on with shoppers who frequent stores like Whole Foods.

“When people ask me ‘What are the top three things I can do to start living greener today?’ one of the answers is always: ‘Start carrying reusable bags everywhere you go,’” Snow said.

A million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide, Snow said, adding that in America alone, 12 million barrels of oil and 14 million trees go into producing paper and plastic bags every year.

It’s become easier for U.S. shoppers to adapt with many retailers offering reusable bags for sale at the cash register, Snow said.

Hindmarch envisions her hard-to-get tote as an advertisement for green living.

“It’s more about being a walking billboard to persuade people that the real answer to this problem is to reuse and reduce and recycle,” Hindmarch said.

She’s not alone. Other designers are also finding fans at the nexus of fashionable and green. McCartney’s organic shopper retails for $495, Hermes plans to sell a collapsible silk bag that reportedly sells for $960 and Marni carries a $843 nylon bag.

Even Louis Vuitton offers a “That’s Love” satin “tote” that retails for $1,720. Actress Scarlett Johansson carries flowers in hers for the company’s advertising campaign.

McCartney’s shopper is part of a line of clothing made with organic cottons sold in her Los Angeles and New York boutiques.

“Stella has always had lifelong vegetarian principles and a commitment to help protect the environment,” said McCartney spokeswoman Arabella Rufino.

“This season bigger bags are going to be in and with the functionality of a shopper, you can take it to the beach or you can take it out for a day of shopping,” said Stephanie Rygorsky, a fashion writer for Life&Style Weekly magazine.

But are Americans ready to spend nearly a grand for what is — in essence — a bag that may see itself covered in broken egg?

“I’m not a big designer person when it comes to my reusable bags, but if that’s what it’s going to take to get people to take their bag to the grocery store, then I say go for it,” Snow said. “If you have the means to spend $800 bucks on a grocery bag, by all means do it because you will probably carry it every time you go to the store.”

That is, if you — and your tote — even plan to step foot in a supermarket.

“Most of the people that can afford a $900 shopping bag aren’t doing their own shopping,” Rygorsky said. “It’s novel and people will carry it and maybe use it as their work bag when you just need the extra tote to put your notebook and things in on the way to work.”

The fact remains that plastic bags are a big problem and reusable fabric bags are a great idea. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp to see how affordable they can be and see

Who knows? Your slogan might be a big hit and you’ll be hitting the headlines. Meanwhile, your weary planet, tired of being abused, will be thankful to you.

Like everyone else I had assumed that nature works in a slow and predictable manner. What I didn’t realise is that global climate systems are booby-trapped with tipping points and feedback loops, thresholds past which the slow creep of environmental decay gives way to sudden and self-perpetuating collapse.

Its all happening now. Heat waves, storms, floods, fires and massive glacial melts. It looks as though the global climate is collapsing around us.

It’s seen most acutely at the poles where the ice sheet is melting faster and faster. 53 cubic miles drained away into the sea last year alone, compared to 23 cubic miles in 1996.

Polar ice is so reflective that 90 percent of the sunlight that strikes it simply bounces back into space, taking its energy with it. Ocean water does just the opposite, absorbing 90 percent of the light and heat it receives, meaning that each mile of ice that melts vanishes faster than the mile that preceded it.

Now we know that permafrost, much of which has been frozen since the end of last ice age, at least 8,000 years ago is beginning to melt.

Sealed inside that cryonic time capsule are layers of partially decayed organic matter, rich in carbon. In high-altitude regions of Alaska, Canada and Siberia, the soil is warming and decomposing, releasing gases that will turn into methane and CO2.

The scale is frightening – the total human carbon output is 7 gigatons a year, while the permafrost has the potential to release 200 gigatons to 800 gigatons!

Polar bears are now starting to turn up drowned. They are running out of polar ice to swim to.

Can mankind do anything at all? Of course. Stop burning up so much fossil fuel to start with. Use more public transport and efficient cars and, use reusable fabric bags!

To make the plastic bags people use once and throw away, our planet burns up some colossal amount of petroleum.

What a silly use for a material whose greatest virtue is its long life. And then, because plastic is virtually indestructible except through incineration, the discarded plastic bags hang around earth forever.

Buy a reusable fabric bag instead and carry it with you. To make it easier we have numerous models that tuck into little pouches to make them easy to carry. http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp

From September 1 shoppers will have to be prepared with string, cotton or paper bags – free plastic bags will no longer be available in Hebden Bridge's stores – making it the largest town in Europe to ban the bags.

Mandi Paramor started the campaign with Nikki Ruse, Louise Marix-Evans, Kat Birch and Emma Leeming after hearing about the town of Modbury, in Devon, which has 43 traders, and banned the bags in May.

Mandi said: "I always thought I was pretty green and I was frustrated at not being able to recycle plastic satisfactorily. Plastic does not biodegrade, it just breaks down into smaller pieces."

After sending around leaflets and consulting traders about their idea, the women found that there was a lot of enthusiasm and decided to go ahead. Traders met this week and decided to back the plans.

Mandi said: "There are only four out of 109 saying no.

"The Co-op are making a huge contribution to the scheme, giving every household in the greater Hebden Bridge area a free Fair Trade cotton bag."

Instead of receiving a free plastic carrier every time they go shopping, customers will be encouraged to bring their own bag. The forgetful can purchase potato starch bags from the shops.

Mandi added: "I have been amazed at people's anger and frustration at having to provide a plastic bag for a toothbrush or a milk bottle. The emphasis has got to be on customers coming prepared for shopping.

"We have to encourage customers to take responsibility for not accepting packaging. People are understanding that this is a whole new gear shift for the plastic bag free movement, because Modbury is such a small town and we are so much bigger."

Tony Preston is chairman of the Business Association and licensee of the Shoulder of Mutton. He said: "We are trying to promote the same uptake of getting rid of plastic bags as happened in Modbury.

"We are trying to get some awareness built up about the damage they do the environment and how long they last.

"It will raise the profile of the town and is right for our image as well."

Francis Charlton, from Bookthrift on Bridgegate, said: "We are trying to reflect the local culture and environment. It is difficult to give people a paper bags so we are investing in corn starch bags."

For the few who are not sure about the scheme the bag ladies are holding a display of the alternatives to plastic at Spirals, Hebden Bridge, from Thursday until next Monday.

 We at SunCorp hope this concept catches on worldwide and hope that someday we can reduce the usage of plastic bags as far as possible.

This is the reason we promote reusable bags, to view our range of products please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp or write to us at info@suncorp.in