American Samoa Beats California to Plastic Bag Punch
U.S. territory American Samoa has officially made it illegal for stores to give out plastic shopping bags. Signed last week by Gov. Togiola Tulafono, the law will go into effect on Feb. 23, 2011.
No more disposable plastic grocery bags for American Samoa, the U.S. territory became the first to outlaw the bags. Photo: Flickr/Keng Susumpow
The passing comes on the heels of California’s recent rejection of Bill AB 1998 (commonly referred to as the Plastic Bag Ban Bill), which would have been the first state-wide plastic bag in the U.S.
The American Samoa law will include disposable plastic bags, but it will exempt shopping bags produced entirely from non-petroleum-based biodegradable plastic and compostable plastic bags, according the Associated Press.
Until now, plastic bag bans and fees have only been enforced on a local level, in many cities across the country. However, American Samoa will be the first U.S. territory to nix the bags.
San Francisco made history in 2007 when it became the first city to ban plastic bags. But with the recent failure of California AB 1998, Los Angeles County and several California cities will attempt to pass bag bans.
Supporters of bag bans favor the removal of the disposable plastic bags because they feel it will ultimately lead to a reduction in overall litter.
“These bags are derived from fossil fuels and are just for temporary use,” said Eric Goldstein, New York City environment director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, in March.
“Disposal creates a host of environmental problems [...] It’s safe to say that even in a city like New York – which is no environmental paradise – plastic bags are a nuisance; they are one of the most visible forms of pollution. They litter roadways, beaches, parkland, clog our storm drains, hang from our trees and are a threat when they get into our local waterways.”
However, the American Chemistry Council argues that plastic bag bans only result in a different type of litter in the end.
“There has been a shift back to paper bags, which is double the greenhouse gas emissions and dramatically increases waste by about 80 percent,” said Keith Christman, managing director of plastics markets for the ACC.
“One of the reasons people talk about bans is to reduce litter, but this didn’t do anything to reduce litter. And it really didn’t do anything to address this.”
Nevertheless, both sides agree that the best solution is recycling plastic bags. Today, most grocery stores offer on-site plastic bag recycling, and so far, it has proven to be a huge success.
This week, grocery chain Publix announced that, since mid-2007, it has saved 1 billion paper and plastic bags from the landfill. The company has offered in-store recycling of paper and plastic bags since the mid-1970s and introduced its first 99 cent reusable bags in mid-2007. Since the introduction, more than 13 million reusable bags have been sold at Publix locations.
Related articles
California Senate Rejects Plastic Bag Ban Bill
Inside Plastic Bans
D.C. Shopping Bag Tax Brings In Nearly $1 Million
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Katie
posted on September 10th, 2010 at 8:33 am
This is fabulous! Now if only this could happen in all states! :D
ConservingNow
posted on September 10th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Congratulations to another forward thinking municipality for demonstrating strong environmental leadership!!!
We all need to do our part to continue to encourage others to join in the campaign to eliminate plastic bags from our environment. It is a simple action that we all can do that can have a huge impact.
That being said, behavioral change can be difficult. Even though you may be committed to bringing your own bags, do you sometimes forget your reusable bags in the car? ConservingNow has created a FREE car window static cling that helps you to remember to grab your bags when you leave your car. ConservingNow’s community members report that they no longer forget their reusable bags! Go to http://www.conservingnow.com to get yours today….
Together we can make a difference!
Shakul Rai
posted on September 16th, 2010 at 12:21 am
Usage of Bioplastics bags will not reduce litter, these cannot be recycled as they can be disposed off only in an industrial composting facility, which are not available in many locations. Secondly, ‘Bioplastics’ are made from corn and excessive usage of corn to make plastics causes widespread shortage of a food commodity. The question is corn for the stomach or for making a bag which is disposed off after one use?
Paper involves cutting down of trees and excessive usage contributes to global warming.
So, it is back to conventional plastics but have three R’s in place.
(a) Re-use : Encourage re-usable bags.
(b) Reduce : Cut down excessive use at the cash counters.
(c) Recycle : Curbing irresponsible disposal and channelising used bags for recycling.
The last option could be the most effective, but needs discipline as well as an efficient collection system
Bill
posted on September 16th, 2010 at 5:25 am
This is BS! The plastic bags I use for trash can liners and for “doogie doolie” service. It’s not going to do anything other than boost the retailers profits. I still have to buy trash can liners and others. This bring your own bag nonsense is a royal pain too. I’m supposed to cart around a bunch of bags everytime I go to the grocery or any store for that matter? Then have to take them home, unload them, then remember to put them back in the car. And for what?? I for one have about had it up to my forehead with all the “go green” crap!! It has gotten to the point that it makes me want to take a 5 gallon can of used motor oil and just dump it on the ground somewhere (which is what we used to do with it anyway years ago).