Holiday Video Round-Up!

A few vids to ease back into the work week - all dealing with the scourge of single-use plastic bags:

1) California State Assemblywoman Julia Brownley announcing (fairly) recent progress of her Bag Ban bill currently working thru the legislature (it's a bit further along than when this vid was produced). Be on the look-out for favorably lit hot celebrities!



2) Actor Ed Norton and National Geographic team up for this Strange Day On Planet Earth anti-bag ditty. Oh man, this one reeeeally hits the spot - and who can argue with NatGeo? I mean, really.



3) An Israeli PSA (I think it's a PSA...?), reminding all Hebrew-speakers to bring their own reusable bags to the store. Plastic bag trash is just not kosher...it's a dang fashla gadol! ;)



4) House cats can be terrorized by single-use plastic bags (or maybe it's the Don Henley music?)...good for them, their owner-friends have hands with fingers & opposable thumbs and can come to the rescue. Wild animals ain't so lucky... :(



5) Saving the BEST for last. With first-"person"[bag] narration by famed film maker Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man; Aguirre, the Wrath of God; The Wild Blue Yonder; etc!), this one laments the sad life of a single-use plastic bag. It's a film by Ramin Bahrani called "PLASTIC BAG" made for Futurestates TV - take time to check them out. Live it up and go FULL SCREEN - and tell your friends about this one! [Note: this Futurestates full episode is 18+ minutes long...just so ya know.]



NOW - take time to roll down to the next blog-post here at The RAP Blog to sign the action alerts, contact your state senator(s) and help support Assemblywoman Brownley's AB 1998 Bag Ban bill!! Thanks a heap.

CA Bag Ban - What's Next??

Ok…well…”What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is going on with the California Bag Ban bill?”, I ask myself everyday. To assuage my confusion of CA state government, I've contacted the experts, have sussed it all out, and, employing my superior desktop/spreadsheet/ninja-nerd skills, have created this handy matrix’d cheat-sheet (current as of July 2, 2010) - Click it to enlarge:


So, checking the smart-indicator color-keyed image – it looks like we may be more than half way there. It now sits in the trembling hands of the California State Senate. This is where YOU come in: this is the time to contact a California state senator to let them know that you support The Bill, The Ban and The Environment. Nice!

Here’s how you do it:

Click here to choose your senator.

Click here to sign Surfrider’s Action Alert.

Click here to explore Heal The Bay’s legislator contact options.

Click here to use Environment California’s Action Alert senator-contact tool (with example letter!).

Take your time, mix & match, tell yer ma to do it, but just do it - NOW IS THE TIME.

Meanwhile, for your "Friday-Lite" reading pleasure, our good friends over at the Plastic Pollution Coalition have compiled a list of supporters and opPOSERS of the bill. I have taken that list and eliminated crazeee environmental groups, and/or businesses that could make money on the ban and/or businesses who may lose money due to the ban and...the remainders are below – there are a few surprises (Steven Bochco Productions?)…cheque it out!!

Supporters:
California Grocer’s Association
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Association of Communities United of South Los Angeles
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California State Lands Commission
City of Burbank
City of Del Mar
City of Long Beach
City of Newport Beach
City of Pasadena
City of San Buenaventura
City of San Clemente
City of Solana Beach
City of Ventura
Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market Inc.
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management Committee/ Integrated Waste Management Task Force
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Neighborhood Market Association
Planning and Conservation League
PW Supermarkets Inc. (San Jose)
Rite Aid
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Save Mart Supermarkets
Solid Waste Solutions Inc
Alameda County Waste Management Authority
Steven Bochco Productions
Super A Food Inc. (Commerce)
State Lands Commission
Washington Elementary PTA
Western States Council of the United Food & Commercial Workers
WinCo Foods Inc.
Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists
Youth Opportunities for High School and Associations of Communities United of South Los Angeles

Opposers:
Californians for Extended Producer Responsibility
Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Corona Chamber of Commerce
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce

Have a trash-free July 4th beachy weekend!

Oil Spill Prevention Starts at Home...!

This from cartoonist/realist David Horsey:


I think our subject is also wearing those annoying Crocs - perhaps petroleum-based? Do I see inorganic cotton clothing items as well? Something to think about during your normal, daily goings-on - a LOT of what we "do" as humans nowadays is rooted in petroleum use/abuse - ESPECIALLY IF IT INVOLVES PLASTIC! Show this to yer mom too - some moms think that this stuff comes from plastic (and meat and Croc) trees... :(

The original posting site is here.