Living plastic-free: Shopping Bags #2

When was the last time you were asked ‘paper or plastic’? It used to be the norm, but no more. Eco-do-gooders have to take the initiative and declare ‘paper please”. But, last week, my request was met with ‘We don’t have any’. EnviroWoman was so aghast SafewayGirl obligingly trekked over to the bakery department in search of a bread bag. I had left my handy wire grocery basket in the car as it was already chock-a-block full of books for the second hand shop. Gotta admit, I felt like a fool stuffing potatoes and rice into my purse and broccoli and oranges into a bread bag…but it's worth being a fool for Mother Nature.

I bring this up because Ikea has been in the news because starting March 15th, it will charge its US customers 5 cents per plastic bag (it currently supplies 70 million of the little darlins’ to US shoppers). This is just IKEA’s first step to ending plastic bag use altogether, all in an effort to reduce the ~100 billion (yes, BILLION) plastic bags thrown out by our southern neighbours every year. Watch the news coverage.

IKEA is also cutting the cost of their reusable bags from 99 cents to 59 cents to encourage customers to take the more earth-friendly option, and donating the money from sales to American Forests.

This isn’t the first time IKEA has implemented this initiative - last June, it began charging U.K. customers for plastic bags, and reduced its bag consumption there by 95%.

Bravo IKEA! Bravo! But when are you going to introduce the same to Canada? Please, oh, please. If you do, maybe even EnviroWoman will shop your unholy mecca of first world excessive consumerism more.

In a way, it’s a sad fact that the only way you get most people to change their ways is to hit them in the pocket book. But whatever works…

Here are some interesting facts (many taken from one of the best resources I’ve found on all things plastic bag: reusablebags.com):

· Plastic usage:

• ~500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.
• The average American family of four throws away about 1,500 single-use plastic bags (EW: I think that’s probably per year, too)
• Less than 1% are recycled. Most are used for trash bags which take ~1,000 years to degrade in the landfill. Wow, isn’t that scary

· Plastic bags versus Paper:

• Plastic is cheaper to manufacture than paper.
• It costs 1 cent for a standard plastic grocery bag, 4 cents for a paper bag. No wonder why stores have headed in this direction.
• Plastic bag production consumes 40% less energy than paper bags, generates 80% less solid waste, produces 70% fewer atmospheric emissions, and releases up to 94% fewer waterborne wastes. Source: Film and Bag Federation, a trade group within the Society of the Plastics Industry based in Washington, D.C (EW: no bias there!)
• In the U.S. alone, an estimated 12,000,000 barrels of oil are required to produce the 100 billion consumed annually... furthermore, paper bags are no better than plastic.Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy -- forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down, and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases. In short, carry a reusable bag and when asked paper or plastic, say neither...’ Source: An Inconvenient Truth (pgs. 315-316)

· National plastic bag bans/taxes:

• Plastic bag litter has become such an environmental nuisance and eyesore that cities in Ireland, Australia, Taiwan, South Africa, and Bangladesh have heavily taxed the bags or banned their use outright. Several other regions, including England and some U.S. cities, are considering similar actions.
• When Ireland introduced their 15 cent “plastax” on plastic bags in March 2002 usage dropped from 328 bags per person to just 21 – that’s a 95% drop. By 2003, 90% of shoppers were using long-life bags, compared with just 36% in 1999. But, the number of plastic bags increased to 30 bags per head in 2006 so the Irish government is increasing the tax to 22 cents in July. (see, ya gotta keep on hitting humans in the wallet to get them to act planet-friendly) The millions of euros raised by the plastax funds environmental projects.
• Taiwan also used 80% fewer bags after charging for them.

What’s the bottom line? Paper and plastic bags both come at great cost to the environment. Use a reusable bag when you go shopping. And the next time you shop IKEA, encourage them to introduce the same initiative in Canada.