Save The Bay has launched a major new campaign, called “The Bay vs. the Bag,” with the goal of significantly reducing pervasive plastic bag pollution in Bay Area waterways.
With this campaign, the venerated organization plans to help San Jose and other Bay Area cities create and pass legislation that will require a 25 cent fee on both paper and plastic bags distributed by all retailers. Also utilizing an interactive website, the campaign hopes to mobilize tens of thousands of Bay Area residents to stand up to the plastics industry by supporting these city efforts to immediately “kick the bag habit” by switching to reusable bags.
“The plastics industry is putting profits over the health of San Francisco Bay,” said David Lewis, Executive Director of Save The Bay. “Plastic bag pollution is unnecessary, preventable and costly. Bags clog storm drains and recycling equipment, costing cities millions of dollars, and bag litter lowers property values and degrades recreational areas.”
It is no secret that plastic bags are a major component of urban litter. Even when placed in trash bins, these lightweight bags are picked up by wind and blown into the gutters—where they flow into bays and the ocean. On just one day in 2007, over 25,000 bags were removed from San Francisco Bay, and this amount represents only a small fraction of the total plastic trash flowing into the Bay and ocean. Bay Area residents use 3.8 billion plastic bags per year and discard over one hundred plastic bags per second. It is estimated that about one million of these bags wind up in the Bay each year where they pollute our waters, smother wetlands and entangle and kill animals. Furthermore, the Pacific Ocean hosts a floating garbage patch, twice the size of Texas, where a study recently found that plastic particles are more abundant than plankton.
Plastic and Paper Bag Bans and Fees are Proven Solutions
Fees on single-use bags are proven to reduce litter and plastic bag use and motivate shoppers to switch to reusable bags. In Ireland, a 33 cent fee on plastic bags reduced their use by 90 percent and reduced plastic bag litter by 93 percent in one year, as reported by Ireland’s Department of the Environment. IKEA in Britain reports that charging customers for bags resulted in a 95 percent decrease in plastic bag use.
“The bottom line is that plastic bag pollution is threatening the health of San Francisco Bay, the ocean and our whole environment. The best policy is to eliminate these toxic products through bans and fees—and by switching to reusable bags—before the destruction becomes completely irreversible,” said Lewis.
Other efforts have proven unsuccessful. Despite the fact that California has pushed a statewide effort to recycle plastic bags for 15 years, the California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates that less than five percent of all single use plastic bags in the state are actually recycled, and there is little market for “down-cycled” plastic film. Recycling firms report extensive costs from trying to recycle this small portion of plastic bags because they jam processing machines and cause work stoppages. In San Jose, less than four percent of plastic bags are recycled and work stoppages from jammed bags cost the City approximately $1 million per year.
San Jose and California Consider Landmark Ordinances
Through stakeholder and community outreach, advocates have concluded that San Jose residents and local recyclers are in favor of a fee ordinance. If the San Jose City Council passes the ordinance under consideration, it will be the first California city to reduce bag usage by requiring a fee on both plastic and paper bags.
“The City of San Jose is committed to significantly reducing single-use bags in the environment,” said Councilmember Kansen Chu. “Plastic bags litter our creeks. In fact, the State Water Board has listed several waterways in the Bay Area, including Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek as ‘impaired by trash.’ Plastic debris, including bags, makes up 60 percent of the litter polluting our waterways. Experience has shown that outreach and recycling options alone are not enough to reduce the consumption of single-use carryout bags.”
A similar effort is underway at the California state level. A California state bill (AB 68) currently being considered in the legislature would require a 25 cent fee on plastic and paper bags. Under this bill, fee revenue will be distributed for litter cleanup and prevention, retailers will retain a portion to offset costs and incentivize reusable bags, and low-income customers will be exempt. But the multi-billion dollar plastics industry, led by the American Chemical Council (ACC), has dispatched industry lobbyists to California and other states to block efforts to reduce bag use and sue cities for banning or requiring fees on single-use bags.
For more information on “The Bay vs. the Bag,” see www.saveSFbay.org/bayvsbag.
