USA Today - 10.21.09
Target has announced it will start offering a 5-cent discount for every reusable bag customers use to pack their purchases. An earlier pilot test among 100 Target stores earlier this year resulted in a 58% reduction in the number of plastic bags used.
Read the entire article here.
CVS joins the growing list of retailers offering customers incentives for bringing reusable bags. The company is implementing a green bag card system. For every four shopping trips with a cloth reusable bag, the customer will receive a coupon for $1. There's also word that Target stores are offering a 5-cent credit for every reusable bag used.
Read more about the CVS program here.
Each of us makes choices on a daily basis. Our choices may be simple, they may be significant, they may keep us up at night, and they often affect others. Can you recall the feeling of making a choice, taking action, or getting involved for something so righteous and inspiring that you could barely contain yourself?
In May 2010, Bags Bee Gone decided to become a member with an amazing organization called 1% For The Planet, and our expectations for the outcomes of this one choice have got us all fired up.
Founded in 2002, 1% For the Planet promotes giving from the business community to environmental organizations that are working toward preservation and restoration of our natural environment. Corporate membership with 1% For the Planet means a company pledges to donate 1% of gross annual sales to non-profit organizations with a focus on environmental causes and a successful track record. Over 1,000 businesses world-wide have become members with 1% For The Planet over the past six years, forming a veritable coalition of companies rooted in the fertile common grounds of financial commitment to creating a healthy planet.
We are tremendously excited to join with 1% For The Planet in support of efforts by non-profit organizations to protect and promote the wellness of this one great Earth. Membership with 1% For The Planet is one aspect of Bags Bee Gone's overall commitment to doing the right thing; we work very hard everyday to create the finest processes, products, and services so our customers can enjoy what they deserve: peace of mind. There are no greater gifts we can share with our children than clean air, clean water, richness in plant and animal species worldwide, and the ethic of stewardship for our environment. These are the outcomes we seek to support through our 1% For The Planet partnerships.
An investigator described this excessive marine debris as the "new man-made epidemic," since the tiny pieces are believed to contain toxic chemicals and can absorb banned substances such as DDT. Not only is there a chemical threat, but the growing garbage patch debris poses danger to marine life and birds.
Read the entire article.
Daily News-Miner 9.11.09
Fairbanks, Alaska's Borough Assembly passed a 5-cent bag fee that automatically applies to a few dozen major retailers. The fee is characterized as a "user fee" to address the city's solid waste issues. Revenue from the fee will go toward emerging recycling programs.
Read more here.
Bee-Eazy bags is proud to be a presenter at GreenFest Philly in Philadelphia, PA. Come on down to see us
SHOW DATES & HOURS:
Sunday, September 13, 2009 11:00am - 6:00pm
LOCATION: 2nd and South Streets
TICKET PRICE: Admission Free
PARKING: GreenFest Philly 09 Parking Map
GreenFest Phillyis a one-day street fair FREE to the public that takes place in Philadelphia every September. Last year, over 200 exhibitorsand 25,000 people attended the area's largest environmental event. Various features included vegetarian food, sneaker recycling, live music & entertainment, kids activities, bicycle valet, yoga, local produce, green contests, composting and recycling, Eco Exchange Fashion Show & Clothing Swap, Food Symposiumand Green Film Festival.
CT POST - 8.14.09
Fairfield took a step toward joining Westport as the only town in the state to ban most plastic grocery and retail bags. A measure to stop businesses from using the bags was approved unanimously by the Reusable Bag Ordinance Committee in Fairfield 8/14/09. The ban is set for approval at the next Representative Town Meeting session September 28th, 2009. The proposal would allow retailers to use paper bags and plastic bags 28 by 36 inches or larger. Businesses that fail to comply face an initial fine of $150 from the Solid Waste and Recycling Department with a maximum fine of no more than $1,050 every 90 days. The town will use funds from an energy efficiency grant to purchase 3,000 reusable bags from the Chamber of Commerce for distribution at various town events.
Washington Business Journal 6.15.09
“The District gave its final unanimous vote in favor of charging a nickel for each paper and plastic bag that residents get from restaurants, pharmacies and grocers in an effort to clean up the Anacostia watershed… Council members pointed to a recent analysis by the D.C. Department of the Environment, which found that plastic bags make up 20 percent of trash in the Anacostia River and 50 percent of trash in its tributaries. According to that same DDOE report, charging for plastic bags could eliminate up to 47 percent of trash in the tributaries and 21 percent from the river’s main stem.”
I'm always looking for fresh new ideas and recently came across a new direct sales business focused on eco-friendly products. The Happy Gardener allows consultants to build their business around their passions in the garden, allowing them to start their own gardening business while providing extra income for their family with unlimited earning potential. What a green idea!
The Happy Gardener Website
The New York Times 5.14.09
The City Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a measure making Chicago the nation’s first city to ban the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups manufactured with a chemical that some studies have linked to disease.
Passage was driven by what officials here call federal regulators’ failure to take action on a grave public health issue.
The chemical, bisphenol-A, or BPA, is commonly employed to harden plastics, among other uses. Over time, it can leach into the contents of a plastic container, particularly one that is used in a microwave oven or cleaned in a dishwasher.
MSNBC 2.25.09
A bill to ban pastic bags at supermarkets and department stores by 2012 was defeated Tuesday after a handful of Democrats joined with Republicans in voting against it. Critics argued that the ban would inevitably lead to increased use of paper bags, which they argued take more energy to produce and take up more room in landfills than cheaper, lighter plastic bags.
Our Take: It's possible Colorado was wary of being the first to pass this law. Other states such as Lawmakers in several other states — Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey and New York, are considering similar bans this year.
2.12.09
A new federal law has been passed banning use of phthalates in children's products and toys. This ban is just the beginning in the fight against unsafe children's products. It is still incredibly difficult to determine if phthalates are used or what health effects can be experienced by widely used alternatives.
It's becoming more and more disturbing these days to walk down my street only to find endless soggy and unreadable Reminder magazines cluttering up the street. Even more troubling is that the weather proof plastic bags they are tossing these in will take thousands of years to degrade, and will create an environmental issue across the state. Even if you are kind enough to clean up the litter for a neighbor the papers will keep coming. The policy of the paper is to continue delivery unless they are instructed not to deliver the newspaper to a home .
If you don't read the reminder or even if you do please contact the circulation department to cancel toll free at 1-888-456-2211 ext. 4. You can always catch the reminder on-line to save a tree http://www.remindernews.com/
MLive.com - The Grand Rapids Press 1.04.09
Just months after an incredible high, recyclers across the country are finding it more difficult to find customers for reclaimed materials. Many companies are resorting to storing materials at great taxpayer expense until prices level out.
Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) late Tuesday night passed an ordinance banning the use of plastic bags for retail checkout of purchased goods.
A slide presentation by proponents of the plastic bag ban ordinance preceded the three and a half hour debate. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
The vote just before midnight was 26 in favor, 5 opposed, and one abstention. The ordinance, which will become effective in six months, urges residents to use reusable bags and provides for a $150 fine for each store offering plastic bags in violation.
The NY Local Daily news 11.07.08 
Mayor Bloomberg wants to nickel and dime you at the grocery store - taxing you an extra 5 cents for every plastic bag you take home. The controversial charge could raise at least $16 million for the cash-strapped city while keeping tons of plastic out of landfills, city officials said Thursday - but some outraged shoppers aren't buying it.
Link: 'If I had a nickel for every bag,' sez Mayor Bloomberg
Los Angeles Times, 07.23.08
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban plastic carryout bags in the city's supermarkets and stores by July 2010 -- but only if the state fails to impose a 25-cent fee on every shopper who requests them.
Council members said they hope an impending ban would spur consumers to begin carrying canvas or other reusable bags, reducing the amount of plastic that washes into the city's storm drains and the ocean.
"This is a major moment for our city, to bite the bullet and go with something that is more ecologically sensitive than what we've ever done before," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl...
Our Take: Bravo, California! Los Angeles joins the ranks of San Francisco in reducing plastic bag consumption. However, the biggest news is not the ban, but that Los Angeles is the first major U.S. city to vote to implement a plastic bag tax, by charging $.25 for “use-and-toss” bags, should the legislature not pass a statewide ban. A similar Plastax in Ireland reduced plastic bag consumption by 90%, and we are really excited to see the first U.S. effort to do the same. Even more importantly, Los Angeles also takes aim at paper bags, sending the message that over consumption of any kind is wasteful.
Los Angeles alone will put a dent in plastic bag consumption by reducing the 2.3 billion plastic bags it uses each year. We hope the city proves to be a model for many more across the nation.
Link: L.A. City Council votes for ban on plastic shopping bags
The Wall Street Journal 10.23.08
Three types of phthalates, chemical additives that render hard plastics flexible, will be banned from children's toys and child-care products starting Feb. 10, while three other types of phthalates will be temporarily prohibited from child-care products and toys that can be placed in a child's mouth…
"This holiday season is going to be 'buyer beware,'" says Elizabeth Hitchcock of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Consumers will see "toys marked down at a discount without knowing that they contain a substance that will be banned in February," says Ms. Hitchcock. That could "present a tremendous danger," she says, because the lower prices will be all the more appealing to shoppers during an economic downturn.
