Santa Monica Enables Bag Ban - MD & VA In the Hunt!

This just in...

I have good news and I have GREAT NEWS - the good news is that we (okay, I) are having trouble keeping up with all of the news of municipalities banning single-use plastic bags (gotta call my contacts at the ACC to stay dialed in!), the GREAT NEWS is:

LA coastal burgh Santa Monica debated a ban and decided to actively look into it just about two years ago, and on Tuesday they voted to now (after a hitch caused by lawsuits threatened by the plastics industry) go through with it - to take effect in September of this year. NYCE!

California's patchwork of bag bans continue to sweep the state with Calabasas (think Topanga North) considering the option next week. Local environmental groups led by Surfrider ally in the anti-bag movement, Heal the Bay, are now drawing a bead on the Cit of Los Angeles. INCOMING!

The LA Times article quotes Mark Gold of HTB, "... local governments are going to address this critical issue despite threats from industry and state inaction. The plastics industry knows the writing is on the wall." ...Ya know, I think I've seen that wall - and I believe that the first word written there starts with "F"? ...or maybe it was a "B" (as in "Ban!") - those letter can look similar when scrawled... ;)

On the opposite coast and on the same day as Santa Monica's doin's, the Washington Post Op/Ed told Maryland and Virginia to push forth on placing fees (that have worked so well in DC) on their ubiquitously trashy "urban tumbleweeds". Most excellent.

This is shaping up to be a verrrry niiiice new year!

DAY W/O A BAG is...

TOMORROW, December 16th!

This global event was initiated by Heal The Bay just a few years ago and it comes each year amid the holiday shopping rush - giving shoppers not only something to use repeatedly (a reusable shopping bag), but something to ponder as well.

So ponder this: find your local Surfrider chapter's homepage here to see what they have planned in your area for this event, or to contact them about getting involved. I've been told that the San Diego Chapter has given away upwards of 10,000 (ten thoooouusand!) bags since DWOB commenced.

Need more info?? ==> Check out the Day Without A Bag website, and the "au populaire" Bag Ban Report website (both cleverly "hidden" in Heal The Bay's elaborate network of substantive web resources). WARNING: this website has TONS of information and tools for the budding bag-banner - so be sure to explore every nook and cranny - they're all there for YOU.

I got a fee-vuh and the only prescription is MORE REUSABLE BAGS!

Jeremy Irons Plastic Bag Vid

Brought to us by our friends at Heal The Bay, and complete with helicopter shot and night-vision cams, this is a high-quality production about the lonely trials and tribulations of a discarded plastic grocery bag, just trying to get through the day. You see them everywhere, everyday, but have you ever pondered their difficult "life" path?

Similar to the Werner Herzog vid of a previous post on this blog, this one has a touch more humor and well, is quite a tear-jerker - wait 'till you see the "deadly" teacup yorkie open a can (cup?) of whoop-ass on our bag/friend...not sure whom to weep for in that scene, but pass the tissues, pleeeez.

In Heal The Bay's words: "Filmed in the style of a nature documentary and narrated by Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons, this 'mockumentary', though lighthearted in tone, hammers home the stark reality of California’s plastic bag pollution situation. View on YouTube and share to help get AB 1998 approved by the Senate!"

CA State Bag Ban Legislation

It's a LEFT COAST kind of Friday...!

Well, ask and ye shall receive – in the last post to this blog, a statewide ban against single-use plastics was politely proposed …and guess what – there IS one in the works, AB 1998 aiming to ban plastic bags, that’s percolating its way through the convoluted, gassy bowels of the California State legislature. The following blurb was (blatantly) stolen from the Surfrider CA Policy blog:

“Many of California's cities have been trying to regulate plastic bag consumption for years, recognizing that something must be done about the flimsy petroleum-based product that is difficult to recycle and all too often ends up as a littered eyesore.

Due to the outcry of our Chapters to address the issue of plastic pollution on our oceans and beaches, Surfrider Foundation has been working to support statewide legislation to Ban the Bag. Right now, Assembly Bill 1998 (Brownley) is being assessed by our legislature. The bill would ban all single-use carryout plastic bags, limit the distribution of paper bags, and require reusable bags to be available for purchase. This is the most progressive effort of any other state in the nation!

To find out more and take action, check out this action alert from Heal the Bay and Environment California, our partner organizations for addressing plastic pollution.”

Read a bit more about the details of AB 1998 at this cool website.


Granted, similar legislation has been tried, and has failed, before in California, but ya gotta exercise Surfrider’s sub-motto of “constant pressure, endlessly applied” in situations like this! If you are a California resident, hit up the Action Alert – SO EASY, you supply your name and address and the website sends the letter to your appropriate “elected” for you – it’s a SNAP, as in “OH! SNAP!”

Please do it ASAP - the legislators need keep this bill on schedule!!

THANX and happy pau hana!

Spread the Trash Talk!

Just a Friday quickie to provide a link to Heal The Bay's new "Trashed" website. It's an interactive site that shows causes, effects, facts and other details about plastic pollution in the ocean. HTB wants to raise awareness about the problem and how we can help - "spread the trash talk" as they put it - and they'd love your help.

The site is great for kids (of all ages!) - plus it's got "widgets & banners" that you can dress up your own website/newsletters/blogs and Facebook/MySpace accounts with, in order to help get the word out about the plastic pollution problem that's "trashing" our ocean. The website even provides a way to "trash your friends and family". Hmmm...(raised eyebrow)...could make for an interesting weekend.

Take a moment to visit the 'normal' Heal the Bay website too. They are good friends of ours, do great work...they "get it". ;)

Pau hana!!