no plastic from now. a small girl shows you how.

 

This is the story of how a small girl is spreading awareness about the dangers of using plastic bags by being the change. There's much that we all, especially grown ups, have to learn from this little girl. Starting now.

And here's the feedback the newspaper received and printed the following day.

 

Countries who acknowledge the plastic bag threat.

AUSTRALIA
In Australia shoppers are now encouraged to buy bags called "green bags" which cost about a dollar, but can be reused many times. The bags are coloured depending on the company that sells them. Some "green bags" are insulated for the carrying of hot or cold items. Locally, the town of Coles Bay, Tasmania banned plastic shopping bags in April, 2003. In early 2008, the Australian Federal Government stated it would consider action that would result in plastic bags being phased out by the end of 2008. Australians used 4.84 billion plastic bags in 2007, at a wholesale cost of $0.0018 each. The bags each weigh 35grams and are used to wrap many Australian products such as fruits and vegetables. The shopping bags themselves account for 10% or less of the plastic Australian shoppers carry home from supermarkets. In South Australia free single use plastic bags will banned as of the end of 2008.


BANGLADESH
Plastic shopping bags are illegal in Bangladesh, where they are thought to cause flooding during monsoons by clogging drains.


BHUTAN
Plastic shopping bags have been illegal in Bhutan, on the grounds that they make the country less happy.
However, the ban has not been successful at all and no current initiatives address the issue. Alternatives to plastic bags are not being encouraged, segregation of any waste is not currently undertaken and recycling or waste-energy facilities are not available within the country.


CHINA
Beginning on June 1 2008, for the entire country of China, all supermarkets, department stores and shops will be prohibited from giving out free plastic bags. Stores must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags and are banned from tacking that price onto products. The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags - those less than 0.025 millimeters, or 0.00098 inches, thick - are also banned. The State Council calls for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets.In this environment, there is a Chinese environmental protection bag manufacturers, they have their own brand: the source of one mind, their company, based in Beijing, the capital of China.


HONG KONG
Hong Kong enjoys a set of different laws as one of China's Special Administrative Regions. The city has not prohibited the use of giving out free plastic bags yet even if the problem is of growing concern. Supermarkets play a large role in giving out free plastic bags for their customers. The problem has raised awareness amongst the people when a "No Plastic Bag Day" was launched back in 2006, a campaign co-organized by the Environmental Protection Department and several green groups such as Green Student Council, Friends of the Earth, The Conservancy Association and Green Power. However, as the campaign is voluntary and only takes place on the first Tuesday of each month, it did very little to halt the problem. Government statistics show that the city currently disposes of 23 million bags a day. For a city of almost 7 million, this means an average of 3 bags disposed of per person per day. In December 2007, a Product Eco-responsibility bill was introduced. The bill proposes charging 50 cents HKD per plastic bag, with phase one being implemented in 2009. It is hoped that this bill will not only reduce the plastic bag problem the city faces, but also bring in 100,000,000 HKD per year.


FRANCE
Growing awareness of the ecological impact of plastic bags has led main mass retailers to force customers to buy reusable plastic or non-woven bags. This has been adopted by supermarkets such as Carrefour, which has managed to improve its image and save itself the purchase of the former plastic bags. Nonfood related retailers such as Cloth tend to prefer to switch to paper bags, allowing them to match the ecological demand and upgrade their image on two aspects: ecology and quality. In Paris, a ban on plastic bags will take effect in late 2007; a nationwide ban is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2010.


SPAIN
In Spain, supermarkets give free plastic bags except some as Día which charge 3 cents per bag. Recently, Spanish Government wants to adopt the National Plan of Integrated Waste which has among its objectives in 2010 to ban plastic bags single-use non-biodegradable.

Spain is the leading producer of plastic bags for a single use and the third consumer in Europe. Each year 10,500 million plastic bags are distributed in Spain, with a total weight of 96,000 tons. 62% of plastic bags are reused as garbage bags and 10% are recycled through the yellow containers.


GERMANY
Generally, most German supermarkets charge between 5 and 25 cents per single-use bag, depending on the type of bag. Most shops also offer cloth bags or sturdier, woven plastic bags for about €1, encouraging shoppers to re-use them. Many high-street retail shops will provide bags free of charge. Most people will re-use single-use shopping bags, i.e., for collecting deposit bottles or using them as bin liners.


IRELAND
On March 4, 2002 the Republic of Ireland introduced a €0.15 levy on every plastic shopping bag. This led to a 90% reduction in use of plastic bags and increased use of reusable bags. The money gathered by the levy was used to raise money for environmental initiatives. Many retailers in Ireland switched to supplying (untaxed) paper bags, or simply stopped supplying bags. Most supermarkets continued to supply plastic bags, subject to the tax. The charge was increased to €0.22 on July 1, 2007. Most supermarkets supply reusable woven bags, or heavy reusable plastic bags for about €1.00

ISRAEL
The entire country of Israel has enacted legislation to add a surcharge for every plastic bag. Bags that contain fish, meat, poultry or fresh produce won't incur any charge. Aside from that, every plastic bag given to a customer will incur a charge of 1 NIS which will be shown as a separate item on their receipt. The proposal will also subsidize for 6 months the sale of reusable bags, in order to create public awareness of the law.


NEW ZEALAND
In recent years cloth bags have been promoted and sold by some supermarkets as an alternative to plastic bags. In August 2006 the Collingwood community in Golden Bay declared itself shopping bag free by a group of local residents who promoted the idea. In early 2007 a nationwide campaign was kicked off with the aim of introducing a shopping bag levy similar to Ireland's.

In the town of Wanaka in the South Island the Bag the Habit Campaign has converted almost 50% of shoppers to say no to plastic bags. This saves around 1,500 plastic bags from ending up in the landfill every day. Wanaka has a permanent population of around 7,000 and visitor numbers of around 600,000. 30% of retail stores are now plastic bag free and Wanaka looks set to have the first plastic bag free supermarket in New Zealand with the 4 Square supermarket committing to removing plastic bags from their operation within 12 months. The end goal is for the town to be plastic bag free and over summer campaigners will be targeting the masses of visitors that come to enjoy the natural beauty of the town.


SOUTH AFRICA
Mohammed Valli Moosa, the Environment and Tourism Minister of South Africa, jokingly named plastic bags the "national flower" of that country, and worked to introduce a minimum legal thickness of 30 micrometres to increase their cost, reusability, and recyclability. They may not be legally given away to shoppers, and must instead be sold; however this rule is not always enforced strictly. The South African government collects a 3 cents per shopping bag environmental levy.


TURKEY
The littering of plastic shopping bags has created major environmental problems throughout Turkey. Currently, Turkish people use on average 1.2 bags per day each, most of which end up not being disposed of properly. The government has launched a feasibility study into the movement towards envirobags; however, this is not due until late 2008. However, Turkey has made the most success over the past time.


UNITED KINGDOM
In the United Kingdom, plastic shopping bags are commonly known as carrier bags.

Growing awareness in the United Kingdom of the problems caused by indiscriminate use of plastic bags is encouraging some large retailers to reward customers who bring their own bags or who reuse or recycle announced on 13 November 2007 that the 10th London Local Authorities Bill would include a provision to ban the distribution of free throw-away shopping bags in the capital. The London Local Authorities (Shopping Bag) Bill was deposited in Parliament on 27 November 2006. If the Bill is passed by Parliament, it is expected to become law by mid-2009.

On 12 January 2008 Girton, Cambridgeshire became the first village in the East of England to declare itself a "Plastic Bag Free Community". The scheme comes from Sustainable Girton, an environmental group made up of local residents.

On 28 February 2008 Marks and Spencers announced that with effect from 6th May 2008 it will begin charging customers 5p per bag in order to bring awareness to ecological living. All the money raised will be on single use carrier bags in 2009.


UNITED STATES
Plastic bags have largely displaced paper bags as the most common type of shopping bag during the late 1980s and early 1990s. There has been no broad government action against the litter problem; proper household waste management (reuse when possible and not littering) is considered a personal responsibility or a locally enforced misdemeanor. Some local governments have enacted ordinances, and many stores allow customers to return the bags for recycling. Empty bags carried on the wind are popularly known as "urban tumbleweed."

On March 27, 2007, the City and County of San Francisco became the first city to ban common plastic shopping bags, followed shortly thereafter by nearby Oakland. Since July 1, 2007, all large supermarkets in the state of California will be required, by law, to take back and recycle plastic shopping bags.

Portland, Oregon is next to ban plastic bags according to Thanh Tan of news Channel KATU.

Plastic shopping bags are banned in at least 30 villages and towns in Alaska, including the towns of Emmonak, Galena, and Kotlik.

Seattle, Washington recently proposed a 20 cent "green fee" on plastic bags, which would go into effect on January 1, 2009. The fee was proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels and approved by city council July 28, 2008. Just days after its passage, opponents to the fee mobilized a petition to remove it; a referendum has been placed on the November 2008 ballot to block its implementation.

Los Angeles, California has also placed a ban on plastic bag starting in 2010.

New York City is considering a 6 cent plastic bag tax noticing its success in Ireland. The tax is being advertised to the public as environmentally friendly and an innovative way to raise needed revenue. If this tax is to take effect, state approval is required.

IKEA, the home furnishings retailer, imposes its own charge for plastic shopping bags in the US — charging $0.05 to any customer who wants a plastic sack.[39] A similar charge has been in place since spring 2006 at IKEA stores in the UK, and the company says it has reduced use of bags in UK stores by 95 percent. IKEA hopes the 5-cent fee in the U.S. cuts bag use in half, from 70 million bags a year to 35 million.


ZANZIBAR
The island of Zanzibar banned the import and use of plastic shopping bags in November 2006. People who litter used bags are responsible for a significant problem, and government officials enacted the ban to protect tourism, an economic mainstay for the island.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag

San Francisco, first US city to ban the bag.

 

Plastic bags banned in Delhi.

part 1 of 2

 

part 2 of 2

 

Plastic bags banned in Chandigarh.

 

Plastic bags banned in God's own country.

 

After succumbing to floods, Maharastra bans the bag.

 

Plastic bags banned in Himachal Pradesh, India.

This is by far the most stringent law passed in the country.

 

a lovely article about lessplasticmorelife and some wonderful response.

The article.

 

The response.

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic Bags kill cows. Please decide which is more sacred to you.

 

Many people have been laughing their heads off at Maneka Gandhi's contention that drinking milk can be harmful to health. They find it ludicrous that milk-which is considered the very epitome of good health across the country-can be hazardous. Or the gentle cow-revered across the country as a harbinger of prosperity-can bring any harm. But Maneka's submissions are proving to be true, if in a different way. The Animal Husbandry Department of Uttar Pradesh has come up with an alarming discovery: Milk from cows which have polythene bags clogging their stomachs can cause diseases like tuberculosis and cancer.

Not to mention what happens to the cows.

The state Veterinary Department made the shocking discovery after an alarming rise in the number of cows dying due to polythene consumption. According to official estimates, in Lucknow alone about 80-100 cows die every day. Elsewhere in the state too, the polythene plague is playing havoc with the cattle population.

Jolted by the cattle deaths, a group of individuals comprising journalists, businessmen, lawyers, even police officers has launched a state-wide campaign to curtail the use of polythene bags and regulate their disposal. The 'Polythene Agony Campaign' draws the attention of people to the hazards that polythene bags pose for cattle-and by implication for humans. Shopkeepers are being urged to stop using polythene bags, housewives are being cajoled into disposing them carefully and school children are being roped in to stop the use of plastic. In Lucknow, roadside hoardings have sprung up in the past few weeks, demanding a ban on plastic bags.

The campaign has put the administration in a piquant situation. While the government overtly supports such an initiative, the fact is that it is one of the major users of polythene, supplying milk and country liquor in plastic pouches. Also, it may not be in a position to crack down on the powerful lobby of pan masala manufacturers.

However, the proliferation of plastic is just one part of the problem. Speaking to INDIA TODAY, DIG Shailja Kant Mishra, who is leading the campaign in Lucknow, said it was a common practice for cowherds to let their cattle loose on the streets after milking them in the morning. "During daytime these cows consume garbage wrapped in polythene bags," he said. If polythene bags are swallowed by a cow, they get stuck in the animal's stomach. The presence of the plastic in the stomach causes an infection which eventually leads to the cow's death. "This is how polythene is causing the death of thousands of cows every year," says Hardev Singh, director of the Veterinary Department. "He said that the infection caused by the polythene in the stomach also affects the milk. "If the milk from an infected cow is consumed by human beings, it would make them susceptible to diseases like tuberculosis and cancer," he warned.

Interestingly, the malaise is largely affecting only cows. The more valuable buffalo (buying a buffalo costs about one and a half times more than buying a cow; a buffalo also generally gives more milk, almost 15 kg whereas the cow usually gives only about 7-8 litres) is spared the agony because owners don't allow them to roam free on the streets foraging for food. Usually, buffaloes have to be taken to the grazing grounds and brought back because they can't find the way themselves. Also, the buffalo's milk is richer and more in demand. A good buffalo may cost about Rs 10,000 while a good cow can cost about Rs 6,000-7,000.

Singh has called for the strict implementation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,1960, which empowers law-enforcing agencies to arrest people who fail to provide food, shelter and water to their animals and allow them to stray, foraging for food. The Animal Husbandry Department is also conducting free surgeries to remove the plastic bags from the stomachs of affected cows. "On an average, 30 kg of polythene is extracted from the stomach of a cow," says Hardev Singh. About 60-70 cows are operated upon every week in Lucknow but that is nothing compared to the magnitude of the problem.

Hardev Singh fears that the decline in the number of cattle may have serious ramifications in the long term. "If preventive measures are not initiated, the cow population in the state may dwindle dangerously," he says. As a first step, the government should ban the use of plastic bags in the state. Then it should take on the cowherds who allow their cattle to roam on the streets looking for food. Otherwise there will be an ironical situation. Plastic pouches of milk may soon have to carry a statutory warning from the surgeon general that its consumption is harmful to health -- caused by plastic.

http://www.indiatoday.com/webexclusive/dispatch/20000506/mishra.html

Bangladesh bans plastic bags.

In March 2002, Bangladesh slapped an outright ban on all polythene bags after they were found to have been the main culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. The problem was that discarded bags were choking the drainage system. If it isn't banned throughout the world, plastic bags will soon choke our entire planet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1974750.stm

Plastic Flower?

In South Africa, plastic bags have been dubbed the "national flower" because so many can be seen flapping from fences and caught in bushes :)

Cloth bags replace plastic ones – Temple sets example!

Mangalore, INDIA: Devotees attending the 50-day “Akhanda bhajan” at Iddya Sri Mahalingeshwara temple at Surathkal near here are witness to a new beginning.

They are receiving prasad in cloth handbags instead of the ubiquitous plastic. The temple management is contemplating on shifting to non-plastic medium of disbursing “Prasad” to devotees permanently, preferably paper, once their plastic stockpile exhausts.

Cloth handbags have come in to vogue in schools in and around Surathkal, thanks to the initiative taken by Rotary Clubs of Surathkal, Mangalore Port Town, Mithra Mandali- Surathkal, Balakedarara Hitarakshana Vedike-Surathkal, and Honnakatte Friends Circle-Kulai. They jointly distributed 600 cloth bags to students of Sri Venkataramana Higher Primary School, Kulai, as part of a recent anti-plastic campaign.

Sathish Rao Iddya, former president of Rotary Club of Surathkal says: “We want to distribute 5,000 cloth handbags to students.” Poornima Rao, secretary of Mitra Mandali says: “It is easier to spread the message through students.”

These groups have appealed to the temples in and around Surathkal to stop using plastic to distribute prasad, Mr. Rao says. Initial setback apart, the Iddya temple’s move appears to be catching on. I. Ramananda Bhat, the managing trustee of the temple, says: “We will soon be deciding on how to phase out plastic.”

Mr. Rao says: “Usage of plastic can be stopped because they are not reusable. Cloth bags which cost around Rs. 6 apiece can carry items weighing up to five kg. Once this advantage of cloth bags catches the attention of people, they will stop using plastic carry bags.”

Ira, a village in Bantwal taluk, has gone one step ahead. Shops in Ira do not dispense products to customers in plastic carry bags. People there always carry cloth bags to buy anything.

Jaideep Shenoy
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/12/stories/2008031257810300.htm

The Plastic Battle - Best Green One-minute film.

Has this ever happened to you after you've purchased a consumer item? Winner of the Friend's of the Earth Best One-minute Green Film Award, director Ulla Jackobsen from Denmark makes a simple yet dramatic statement with the help of a child and her toys. This video reminds us, in a most poignant way, to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

One word my son-plastics! a BBC video.

the dangers of plastic bags-a compelling video

Why refuse plastic bags?

A series of posters created to raise awareness about the deadly nature of plastics and the toll they take on wildlife. Download them. Set them as your wall paper. Forward them. Print them. Do whatever it takes to overcome the greatest curse of the 21st century.

Can we live without plastic?

The answer is not a 'yes' or a 'no'. It's either plastic or life. The choice is ours.
Throughout it's 'life'cycle, plastic is detrimental to life in all its forms.
For starters, plastic is made by burning oil, a process that emits huge quantities of greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming and climate change. Considering the overwhelming output of the worldwide plastic industry, plastic can be held accountable for a good part of the environmental disasters that surround us.
If that doesn't hurt, this one will- the more oil we burn to make plastic, the higher oil prices climb (and the prices of all commodities with it). You pay the price hike. While thousands of Arab families pay with their lives when the white man flaunting the white eagle emblem swoops down on their oil wells, and plunders their homes in the name of fighting terrorism.
Seems far fetched that a simple plastic bag is linked to all this? Well, if you consider the quantities of oil consumed to make plastic, you'd think before taking that 'free' bag.

The making of plastic bags requires five of the six most hazardous chemicals (propylene, phenol, ethylene, polystyrene and benzene). And guess where these chemicals go once we 'use and throw' the plastic bags?

Option 1. They end up in the soil, preventing rainwater from percolating through the soil and recharging the groundwater table. They stay there until they decompose, ie up to 1000 years, all along leaching the toxic chemicals and poisoning the soil.

Option 2. They end up in our oceans, rivers, lakes, and other water bodies and contaminate the sources of our drinking water. Agreed that the water is 'treated and purified' but it's still contaminated.

Option 3. They up being burned, to get them out of sight (and out of mind) but the cancer-causing gases that are released, ironically enough, end up in our own lungs.

Option 4. They end up in the gut of animals, who mistake the bags for food, ingest them, and die. Slowly. Painfully. Surely. Once the dead animal decays, the bags are set free to continue the killing cycle. Considering a plastic bag doesn't degrade for 1000 years, one can only imagine the death toll wrecked by billions of plastic bags discarded everyday.

Anyway you look at it, it only stands to reason that we cannot live with plastics, but only without it.

Having read this far, if you still accept plastic bags next time you go shopping, in the name of 'convenience', it'll only prove one thing- a clear lack of conscience.

Please carry a cloth bag. Live and let live.