Plastic Bags!
Posted : May 18, 2010 by Pete, Category: Sustainability, recycling
Ok, blog time again. I am going to take this opportunity to follow up from my blog before about plastic bags. I’m sure some of you will want to use one to suffocate me but I need to get it out there ok? Anyway.. so I am an active member of my local green group, The Beacon Hill Green Committee, meeting once a month or so to discuss and brainstorm ways to improve the “greenness” of the neigbourhood. This month, I was put in charge of an investigation into plastic bag policy. Now, lets look at what other countries have done.
Some countries just decide on an outrite ban but that means they need an alternative and paper bags aren’t much better. However, China did this and saved 37million barrels of crude oil per year though – if they can do it, why can’t everyone? (politics) Ireland chose a different approach, introducing a tax on the bags – 33 cents or so per bag (not sure about the number), but it was high enough to deter people from taking them resulting in a 94% decrease in plastic bag consumption. The accumulated tax then subsidised the cost of a pint of Guinness (in an ideal world).
So, to get back to my meeting. I looked into it for Boston, and there was talk about bringing in a ban or a tax but these things take time (politics), so I took it upon myself to do it another way – through education and awareness of the impacts that they can cause. I think my poster does that quite nicely – straight to the point, shocking and truthful…
The rest of the meeting was very informative. We plan to initiate a bike program similar to other cities where stations are placed around the city allowing people to take a bike and ride it to other stations – probably using some sort of keycard or membership program. This will be followed by the installation of bike paths around the city allowing those cyclists to travel without the risk of injury.
We tried to promote the use of ZipCar around Boston as a way to have a car without needing a space to park it. Anyone living in my neighborhood would know this is a nightmare when there is about a 10:1 ratio of parking permits to available spaces in Beacon Hill.
We also looked into the recycling of things that are notoriously difficult to – batteries, CFL bulbs, cell phones, plastic bags etc. Seems the local hardware store on Charles Street in Boston does most of this. I have collected all batteries from the office and employees and will be dropping them off at the store today.
My next venture will be to purchase 100 or 200 reusable bags from http://www.bagsontherun.com/ and donate them to a handful of stores of my choice in my neighborhood to distribute as they see fit.
Updates soon
Pete
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