Plastic Bag Ban is an Opportunity for Change

I submitted this article to the SF Chronicle to their editorial/opinion section (a class assignment)...

My organic, locally grown vegetables are killing baby seals.

When those vegetables are taken home in a petroleum-based plastic bag, it doesn't matter where they come from. San Francisco is poised to connect the dots between global warming and marine health by banning plastic bags. The ban would start in October 2007 and affect grocery stores with yearly retail sales exceeding $2 million. Grocery stores would later be joined by large drugstore chains.

Plastic bags are the target of the ban because they are made from the same oil that becomes the gasoline that fuels your car, the same oil that has caused turmoil across the globe and is causing global warming. Plastic bags often end up in the oceans and other waterways. 100,000 marine animals, such as seals and turtles are killed by plastic bags each year.

Grocers are against this ban because paper bags are five times more expensive than plastic bags and have said that they may raise prices to compensate. Grocery stores could miss an opportunity for positive change if they switch to paper bags. Paper bags require more energy than plastic bags to manufacture. We must also consider the health of the forest that supplied the trees to make the paper. Paper bags are more often recycled than plastic bags, but recycling requires energy too – which means more oil usage and we're back to the same problem as the plastic bag. Paper does biodegrade. However, today's landfills are compacted so tightly that waste does not actually decompose. New products, like biodegradable (corn starch) bags are also more expensive than standard plastic bags and come with the same landfill issue as paper bags.
The real solution is to reduce our consumption of disposable bags.

Ireland's PlasTax is an example of consumption reduction through charging a fee per bag. Starting in March 2002, Ireland taxes consumers 0.15€ (roughly $0.20) per bag. By August 2002, Ireland realized a plastic bag reduction of more than 90% and raised 3.5 million Euros to spend on environmental projects. Grocers could copy this initiative and charge a fee instead of
raising overall prices.

The other side of the story is up to us, San Francisco. The grocery stores have been given the next six months to prepare for the ban. Consumers also have six months to prepare and learn how to do our grocery shopping. Let us take this opportunity to switch to reusable bags. An informal survey showed that the biggest issues with reusing bags include:
Forgetting to bring reusable or reused bags to the store
Reused paper or plastic bags are unreliable and tend to rip or break
Perceived added difficulty for the service clerk at the grocery store

Forget your bags? If you drive to the store, try leaving a stash of bags in your car. Paper bags can fold up into a briefcase or backpack. Store an extra bag at work in your locker or desk drawer. Always have one with you so you can't forget.

Reused bags wear out. Try a cloth bag. Many grocery stores are now selling reusable bags to help encourage reusable options. Cotton mesh bags are very compact and lightweight.

Another concern is the added difficulty for service clerks. I was a service clerk in Illinois in 1994. While a reusable bag customer was rare, I never found their bags inconvenient. Often I could safely fit more into the cotton bags than the plastic bags and it was faster for me to finish.

The plastic bag ban is a great opportunity for San Francisco to demonstrate to the rest of California and the United States that it is easy and economical to do the right thing for the environment. Use the next six months to figure out a reusable bag solution that is right for you – and share your ideas with the community. We're all in this together.