Are You A Plastic Bag Monster?
Andy Keller, a California reusable bag seller, clearly knows that environmental activism is both good for the world and good for business. So he isn't just sitting back and waiting for Americans to stop using plastic bags to carry their groceries or Chinese takeout. Instead, he's unleashed a monster -- a Bag Monster, to be exact.
Covered in 500 plastic bags, he and 99 others plan to don costumes and rally in San Francisco tomorrow, August 12th, to support California's proposed plastic bag ban. It will be the first statewide ban in the nation and is slated for a vote this week. But Keller isn't satisfied with only Californians kicking their plastic habit. He's also kicking off a 15-stop tour to highlight our wasteful use of these ocean-clogging conveniences.
Why 500 bags? Well, the average American uses 300 to 700 single-use plastic bags a year, more than one every day. He also has a crazy display representing the 50,000 bags a single person tends to use in a lifetime -- a lot of plastic to send into landfills or worse, into waterways and eventually out to the ocean. In the Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic in some places outnumbers plankton by 6 to 1.
And while there is some debate about the best way to reduce plastic bag use (tax or ban?) and also controversy about whether disposable paper bags are any better, one thing is clear: materials that can be reused are best. An interesting new fact I learned from Keller's web site is that plastic bags are not a very old phenomenon -- they were only first introduced back in 1977. (I guess Mr. McGuire from 1967's The Graduate really knew what he was talking about.)
Ironically, plastic bag use is already going out of style, and developing countries are leading the way. Because poorer countries lack good trash disposal, nations such as Bangladesh have been horrified to see their rivers literally clogging up with bags. In Tanzania, selling bags carries up to a 6-month jail sentence.
Check out this awesome video of a bag monster chase, and if you live in San Fransisco, go out and support the rally tomorrow in Ghirardelli Square. And, as Keller suggest, next time you go grocery shopping pay-it-forward: Bring an extra reuseable bag and donate it to a person who uses disposable plastic. Ask that person to do the same next time he or she shops.
That way you can set an example for other people, and hopefully California sets an example for other states.
Jess Leber
is a Change.org editor. She most recently covered climate and energy issues as a reporter in Washington, D.C
COMMENTS (5)