Welcome to part four of an occasional series that I’ve titled ‘the war on plastic’ as I’ve made an unofficial decision that doing all possible to reduce the waste associated with plastic products is a huge part of our environmental responsibility. The war takes on many guises, from recycling to reduction, more educated consumption and the development of suitable and affordable alternatives. Few things are as synonymous with a society built upon convenience and disposable products as the continued rise of plastics. I have no debate that convenience is appealing but at what cost? That’s one of the topics we’ll continue to tackle in this series, for more information and the original post please visit here.

More good news in the battleground this month from the state of California that I feel happy and obliged to share. Over 500 California businesses have signed on in support of a plastic bag ban in the state.

The signatures have been collected by Environment California as many businesses elect to support cities in enacting bans of plastic bags. If approved city egislation would ban certain retailers from automatically offering plastic bags at the cash register. Environment California is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. They draw on 30 years of success in tackling the state’s top environmental problems. The companies that have signed  represent a healthy cross-section of California business, many small retailers and restaurants, boutiques and convenience stores. Gina Goodhill from Environment California adds:

“From a business point of view, banning plastic bags makes sense, and these 500 signatures prove it”

Logic suggests that a decision that has economic and environmental benefits should be met with little resistance. Single use plastic bags costs retailers many hundreds of millions to provide, a cost that retailers of course currently cover. In truth of course those costs are transferred to the customer who doesn’t really need the bag in the first place. A typical supermarket is estimated to spend $20,000 to $70,000 on single use plastic bags at checkout. More and more retailers are promoting special savings for shoppers who use their own bag, or moving toward making sure a customer has to specifically request. Significantly The California Grocers Association, has firmly placed its weight behind the bill. The focus in an economy still in very slow recovery is firmly cost savings, perhaps not drawing on the aesthetic of plastic bag litter (so often ultimately destined via storms drains and rivers to the ocean) and ocean pollution as much as they could but still the proposition looks well supported.

Single use plastic bags of course not free, at around 3 to  3 1/2  cents per bag – the amount is being transferred into the shelf costs of the products you purchase. If you shop at 4 establishments per week and acquire 10 bags a week, those 500+ bags will cost you an extra $15-$20 per year. Even that quantity of bags may actually be much lower than the reality based on statistics.  These numbers made my eyes bulge and inefficiency and waste becomes a vicious circle; in California an estimated 19 billion single use bags are used annually which in turn result in the state spending $25 million each year to clean up and landfill all of the bags. Once again you can guess where that $25 million has to come from.

Arguments against the ban suggest customers will be too greatly inconvenienced and the costs of reusable bags is prohibitive. In which case how did we cope before plastic bags? I went to two stores yesterday and was asked ‘do you think you’ll  need a bag’ – of course not…and I somehow coped. More soon plastic battlers!

Learn far more about Environment California via their official site.