Gearing Up for Earth Day

Earth Day is coming. See the earth we have created and what some countries are doing about it:

In Seattle, using Ireland’s successful plastic bag tax as a model, Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing a 20 cent fee on all disposable bags. This type of fee is the first of its kind in the US. If approved, the charges would go into effect Jan 1, 2009. To launch the new program, the city plans to mail one reusable shopping bag to each household.

According to the Los Angeles Time, as of Oct. 2008, IKEA will no longer offer disposable plastic bags or any disposable bags at checkout. Customers will have the options of bringing their own bag, buying a 59¢ IKEA reusable bag, or going bagless.

Greenpeace has made plastic litter part of their cause: “The very thing that makes plastic items useful to consumers, their durability and stability, also makes them a problem in marine environments. Around 100 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year of which about 10 percent ends up in the sea. About 20 percent of this is from ships and platforms, the rest from land.” To read the story and see the pictures, go to:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex

Reusable Bags has valuable information on the size of the plastic bag problem, as well as some great reusable bags that should wear well for years to come. To check out their most up-to-date news on plastic bag litter, go to: http://reusablebags.typepad.com/

To sign up for their excellent newsletter, go to:
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1011338707104

Africa is starting to react to the huge problem with plastic bag litter in its countries. These bags are produced and then discarded in huge quantities. The bags block drains and sewage systems and can kill livestock who eat them. They spread malaria by holding warm water for mosquitoes to breed in. They choke soil and plants, and leak color additives into food.

According to an article by the Reuters Foundation: "The plastic problem is now on the agenda of almost every African country," says Mebratu, an Ethiopian with an office in a U.N. compound in Nairobi. "The major focus is to promote rational use and disposal of plastic bags." Rwanda and Eritrea have already banned the bags outright, the United Nations says. "Go to the airport in Kigali and if you have a plastic bag, they will confiscate it," Mebratu said. Somaliland, an autonomous and self-declared independent region of Somalia, has taken a similarly draconian measure. To read the whole article, go to: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20601514.htm