Green Options » plastic bag ban

After Four Months of Plastic Bag Ban in Delhi

Dr Vandana Prakash — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:24:58 +0000

As I started my hesitant shopping and found myself carrying loosely, all the little items I had bought, I started feeling that my skepticism about Delhi’s ban on plastic bags had been unfounded. I was happy to put up with the inconveniences of bagless shopping: after all, what is the loss of a little item that unwittingly falls from an arm load or of a dress spoilt by leaking “shahi paneer” gravy compared to the loss of beautiful, clean world!

Picture: Sign at a Delhi Metro Station

The seepage of doubt is such a difficult thing to stop. As I grew more fearless in my shopping and my bills became more respectable, plastic bags mysteriously began to reappear. And my regret grew-why had I not bought the other things earlier for fear of having to lug them unpackaged. Doubt turned to disbelief when the dust laden winds wrapped a dirty, worn out plastic bag around my ankle in one of delhi’s wild wind storm, the ‘andhi’of Delhi that I otherwise miss so much. The gulf of my disappointment only widened, when crossing the Yamuna I saw its coast littered by endless stream of plastic bags- as I had seen in a picture six months back. The sides of Yamuna are lined by plastic bags the same way as the coast of Dubai appears outlined by little lights when seen from the aeroplane.

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Reusable Grocery Bag Usage Triples in Past Year at Whole Foods Market

John Chappell — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:08:23 +0000

A recent study by Whole Foods Market estimates that reusable bag usage has increased by 300% in the year since it eliminated plastic bags at all of its stores. The company estimated that 150 million bags have been kept out of landfills over the twelve month period.

Whole Foods Market made the announcement last year that they would stop using plastic bags company-wide starting on Earth Day 2008. Since this announcement, public sentiment has been moving in the direction of eventual elimination of plastic bags at all grocery and retail stores, and municipalities (including the city of San Francisco) have begun outlawing or taxing plastic bag usage within city limits.

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Plastic Bag Fees Stalling for Economics or Politics?

Adam Williams — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:50:54 +0000

The New York Times reports that various plastic bag-reduction initiatives around the country are stalling – or flatlining – due to economics. The plans in the works in places like Seattle, San Francisco and New York have included charges of 5 to 20 cents per plastic bag – and in some cases, paper bags – at, for example, grocery stores.

The intent is – was – to foster a reusable bag culture and wean consumers off their plastic bag dependency. Now, critics are saying the rough economic road we’re on these days is cause enough to halt progress of those initiatives – and related legislative proposals.

Why?

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Genesee County Considers a Ban on Plastic Bags

Wenona Napolitano — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:21:41 +0000

Michigan’s Genesee County Commissioner Archie Bailey wants to ban plastic bags from county stores. If the ban goes through Genesee County will be the first area in Michigan to create such a ban.

The commissioner is having the county’s attorneys research laws and has them busy trying to figure out if the Commissioner’s office has the power to enforce a plastic bag ban.

I certainly hope they do. It would be one more step for Flint and the surrounding areas to become green.

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