You see out here in California we have some pretty heavy environmentalists and they have thus far gotten a few cities (Huntington Beach, etc) and Counties (Los Angeles) to pass some form of plastic bag ban.
The hallmark of the bag ban is that since you can't get the 'free' plastic bag your used to at the grocery store you have to be offered a paper bag for 10¢. They claim all this is to help the environment and keep things clean. Like Huntington Beach for example. They have a lot of beach front area and I guess they are worried they will be to many plastic bags ending up in the ocean or on the beach. I live in a neighboring city and don't see all that many plastic bags flying around the street as litter or trash. I see more with the homeless people then anywhere else.
They always say they want to change our habits and get us to use the cloth reusable bag. They say it is for the environment, and will reduce our landfill volume. You see we have what some might say are to many people here in California. So the land fills are filling up quickly. Yes, maybe cutting out a certain number of bags per household will help cut things down but, maybe they will not.
You see they over look a lot of things when they place a plastic bag ban like this in place or are they just blind to the issues?
I'd like to address some of these areas of concern here in this posting.
Helps the Environment:
This may be true. There are many factors that are causing problems to our marine life in the oceans. Plastic bags are just one elements of many."Common marine debris items includes things like cigarette butts, cans, plastic bags and bottles, styrofoam, balloons, lighters, and toothbrushes. Discarded or lost fishing gear such as lines, nets and buoys are especially dangerous to sea life. "
Ocean Plastics - SeeTurtles
To really solve the problem we have to eliminate the stuff ending up in the ocean and that might require banning all the things on their list. Are we ready to ban toothbrushes since they are made of plastic? Can you see where I'm going here. Plastic bags are just one element among many that are causing problems. So you say "we have to start somewhere!". Yes, but why are we picking plastic bags? And think of the alternate being forced as an option. Paper bags for 10¢. Where are all the paper bags coming from? You have to cut down a tree to get the paper bag. Yes the paper bag is recyclable just as much as some plastic bags. They are also biodegradable just like some forms of plastic bags.
What is interesting to note is in the Hunting Beach, CA ban, a biodegradable bag can not be offered.
"Are biodegradable bags allowed? No. Any bag made predominantly of plastic derived from either petroleum or biologically-based source, such as corn or other plant sources, which is provided to a customer at the point of sale is prohibited. The term plastic carryout bag includes compostable and biodegradable bags, but does not include reusable bags, produce bags or product bags." City of Huntington Beach Reusable Bag Ordinance FAQ
You see the one type of plastic bag they keep in there? The produce bag. The small clear ones you put your tomatoes or pears in. They are not banned. The biodegradable or compostable ones are. So will this fix things in the end. Maybe, maybe not. They really need to look at alternates. It seems like it would have been better to force stores to have biodegradable bags instead. They works if it ends up in a land fill or the ocean. It simply disappears after a while.
"The study also examines the economic, environmental and health effects of bag bans and analyzes their potential costs and benefits. Plastic bags are better for the environment than reusable or paper bags. For an equivalent amount of groceries, production of paper bags requires three times as much total energy and recovers only 1 percent of that energy through combustion. Paper bags also produce substantially more landfill waste. For an equivalent amount of groceries, single-use plastic bags produce 15.5 pounds of waste while paper bags produce nearly 75 pounds of waste" A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban
Cut down on landfill volume:
This is a sensitive area to discuss. I've not seen any of the local landfills that are getting filled and near capacity. I do know there is a heck of a lot of trash being picked up each week in the trash bins down our alley. Many of them are filled to the brim with a variety of stuff. People even come and 'dumpster dive' to get any recyclables out. That usually means aluminum cans, and plastic bottles.For one I've heard that I the past our city had all the garbage sent to a collection center to remove recyclables like metal, plastic and the like. A very good idea. Supposedly, it pays for its self. I think of the amount of money on the table that is being literally thrown away. In California and other areas they put a surcharge on plastic bottles and aluminum cans to promote recycling. Does not seem to be working if people are just willing to dump those items in the trash.
Will that be what happens due to the plastic bag ban. You become immune to it after a while and quit caring?
I know in the city of industry they have a power plant that is run off of garbage. Yes, they load up a chamber with garbage from multiple truck and then shot some type of flame into the chamber. They trash is then burnt and the harness the energy. We need these innovative ideas and projects to solve the land fill issue. Banning one type of bag so you can send a few less to the land fill is not going to solve the problem. Take our household for example. Unless the bad is torn or too full of holes we reuse them to store things or as trash can liners. In the long haul this helps to keep the trash together so it does not end up in the gutter and eventually in the ocean. We'd also have to acquire some type of bag line to replace the plastic bag being reused after grocery shopping. Same amount of plastic goes to the land fill in this case.
Innovations in packaging could do more to reduce land fill volume. Like when they removed the extra plastic lids on the yogurt cups and stuck to just the foil cover. Imagine how much stayed out of the land fill doing that?
Effect on jobs in the local economy:
"There are no economic or environmental reasons for banning or taxing plastic bags."A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban
In studies done regarding the Los Angeles County bag ban for unincorporated areas an indirect result was the loss of business to the effected area and an increase to those that don't have the ban. Since the ban was covering only a few areas you had little incentive to change more then your buying habits to not be inconvenienced by the ban. I suspect the same over time will happen with the ban in Huntington Beach. If you can go to a neighboring area (being reasonably not out of the way) you will. A statewide ban would solve that problem but really effect the bag makers and others.
Did anyone really study how much total energy is required to make the paper bag or reusable bag verses the plastic bag?
Paper bags as well are likely to fall apart and not be reused. Forming holes due to stains or spills. The holes in plastic bags don't come from stains or spills. You can dump some bad lentil soup and have a reasonable belief it will not leak. Can't do that with a paper bag.
"Though outside the scope of this study, it is worth noting that most thin-film plastic bags are made in the United States, and the plastics manufacturing industry employs more than 30,000 people directly and many more indirectly."
A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban
"The Bag Tax will eliminate a net of 101 local jobs. The job losses will cause annual wages to fall by $18 per worker and aggregate real disposable income to fall by $5.64 million. The wage and income losses will combine to lower income tax collections." The Impact of Bill 18-150 on the Economy of Washington, D.C. - D.C. Bag Tax
Most reusable bag are made overseas. And there are some creative ideas formed to get around paying for a bag. One guy I saw had simply put everything back in his cart at Sprouts. Then took that cart out to the parking lot.
"Shopping Carts and Hand Baskets.
Almost 20 percent of stores noted increases in the loss of shopping carts or hard shopping baskets."
A Survey on the Economic Effects of Los Angeles County’s Plastic Bag Ban
The bottom line on economic impact is this - The people making the bag will become unemployed (maybe not all due to exemptions etc), some businesses will see a reduction in sales (depending on how wide spread the ban is), and there could be an over waste of gas as people change their habits to avoid the location. Potentially you might see a loss in overall sales and/or income tax due to the losses in sales and employment.
"We will reduce quite dramatically the scourge of the plastic bags on our beaches and in the L.A. River, and at the same time we will grow jobs," said state Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), who has recently garnered sufficient support to become the next president pro tem of the Senate.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-plastic-bags-20140124,0,6264807.story#ixzz2rpIBEH6b
Reality is that the economic impact is hard to quantify but, may become clearer over the years. The question then becomes do we want to risk it given all the other factors that seem to be clearer and for which we have better data.
Grocery stores not opposed due to indirect bribery:
What is interesting in all of this (especially with the CA state ban) is that there is usually a 10¢ fee/tax for an alternate bag (usually paper). Who keeps the 10¢ is what usually changes. A few select locations have the money going towards conservation or environmental clean. In many others the retailers keep the money. So the stores go from providing a low cost plastic bag or in some cases paper bag for free to charging 10¢ to get a paper bag. I'm not totally sure how much paper bags cost to make but, just think of the revenue you generate going from free to charging. It's pure profit.Most stores would not accept the deal unless this situation exists. They may be inconvenienced but, in the long haul they make money so they don't make a fuss. So it is like a BRIBE.
We want to ban a bag that "is causing environmental issues", so here is a way you will make some money if you go along with our program. It smells of a bribe even if it is not called that.
Because be frank, what business is going to accept a potentially big headache (unhappy customers, redo of bags, etc) with no potential reward of positive outcome for them. More work on our end for no gain on our end does not compute. So they have to sweeten the deal and say "we will give you some potential profit or at least money to cover expenses." if you have to do that to get this thing accepted then you are going about it all wrong.
The 10-cent fee is intended to reimburse retailers for the cost of providing alternative bags and to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags to the store, De Leon said.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-plastic-bags-20140124,0,6264807.story#ixzz2rpITqkOO
"To address a concern of merchants, businesses would keep 3 cents from the fee to cover administrative costs. Jeff Zellmer, senior vice president of the Maryland Retailers Association, said the figure is reasonable." Shoppers in city may see 10-cent bag fee
Again we have a situation that if I want a paper bag now I pay nothing. It's just a cost of doing business. In the future I'll have to pay for it. Not hard to see why the grocery stores are not opposing the new ban!
Unforeseen health risks:
"In theory, plastic grocery bags are supposed to be replaced with those reusable canvas totes, thus cutting down on plastic waste. But now, it turns out, the canvas totes are being cited as a potential health risk by Aberdeen University’s Hugh Pennington, a professor of bacteriology and one of Britain’s leading food scientists. It seems that when these bags are used to carry meat — even meat that is wrapped — they tend to harbour dangerous bacteria that can increase the risk of food poisoning when the bags are reused. The law of unintended consequences strikes again. "
The Law of Unintended Consequences and Plastic Bag Levy
Reusable bags may present health risk - azcentral.com
If you can guarantee that when you go to the store you will always have your meat put in the meat bag then fine. But what happens when the bagger is half asleep and puts your tangerines in there?
So you say why not just bag it yourself to cut down that problem. Fine. But, now some people become unemployed. See the above to see what effect that has.
Not an easy thing. This appears to be the least of the hassles until you get e.coli and end up in the hospital for 5 days.
The bottom line in all this that there is a wealth of information out that there will definately be unintended consequences. This information indicates we need to do something to reduce the amount of waste (plastic and otherwise) that is ending up on our streams, river, lakes, bays and oceans. Plastic bags are only a small percentage of over all waste. They don't increase the volume in land fill or the trash heap floating in the ocean as much as we might think. That plastic bags may be the more environmentally sound option when the details are looked at. That there are economic consequences to applying this "tax" on the general public, and that grocers are not opposed because they are being bought off with part of the fees.
What you have is really a people problem. We need to educate the public on how to properly handle their plastic bags.
If we educate people in the art of recycling and get them to have concern for their local community most of not all of this problem will likely go away or be put under control. Why is it we see some areas free of plastic bags on the street, in the trees or in the streams? Because the people that live there care. The houses are well maintained, the communities are nice and people are out and about and just plain friendly.
So let us study and think before we get all hot to putting in a plastic bag ban!
Buaidh - NO - Bas
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