YumSugar

Fittingly Green: Bag Your Suit

FitSugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Since no one wants to carry around a wet suit in her gym bag, most gyms provide plastic bags for your postswim convenience. One thing the world could definitely use less of, though, is plastic bags.

Since we all have some form of plastic bags - produce bags, bread bags, or shopping bags with handles - tucked into random drawers in our kitchens, taking one to the pool for your wet suit is an easy way to decrease your carbon footprint. I stuff extra plastic bags into my gym bag so I always have one available when I am done swimming. This is just one more way to reuse those ubiquitous plastic bags.

For the Sake of the Planet, Save the Plastic Bags?!

CitizenSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:45:43 -0700

The second I remember to quit grumbling when I get a paper bag with no handles instead of the evil that is the plastic bag, the whole eco-mantra of choosing paper could be dumped on its head. One man, Stephen Joseph, is out to save the plastic bag. He's head of the campaign called Save the Plastic Bag, and he means business.

Even though his battle ramped a little more uphill after LA became the most recent US city to can the bags on Tuesday, he's convinced he has facts on his side. On his website, the well-named SaveThePlasticBags, he lists the reasons to choose plastic over paper:

Roaches love paper bags - they attract them.
When paper bags decompose, they release methane.
Paper bags take up more space to transport (making more trucks on the road and more space taken in landfills if they end up there.

That's not all. To see why the global backturning on the bag may have been too hasty, read more.

Paper bags require 71 percent more energy to make and recycle.
Plastic bags consume 6 percent of the water needed to make paper bags.

And he's got much more on his website. His main complaint? The rush to ditch the plastic hasn't been fully examined. "My research into this issue has proved to me that something funny is going on. The anti-plastic-bag campaigners are not being challenged. . . . This is not an issue that belongs in the left bucket or the right bucket. It's about truth. And I'm determined to make it register."

Now that you know the facts, let me temper them with this: Joseph is also the attorney representing plastic bag companies. What's a shopper to think? Maybe the devil doesn't wear plastic after all?

Source

Casa Verde: BioBags

CasaSugar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:00:48 -0700

We talk often about ditching plastic bags in favor of resuable shopping bags and recycling whatever you can. But, no matter how hard you work to be environmentally conscious, at the end of the day (or week), you still have to take out the trash. Someone still has to take out the trash. When that time comes, toss your trash away in BioBags, certified 100-percent biodegradable and 100-percent compostable bags, and the first "bag from corn." My dear city of San Francisco recently sent 100,000 rolls of BioBags to residents to educate them on the importance of diverting food and other biodegradable waste from entering landfills, and they're now available at over 100 outlets in the Bay Area. BioBags come as kitchen compost bags, tall-kitchen bags, lawn and leaf bags, cat-pan liners, and waste-system bags — pick your flavor. They're also available at most natural-food stores in the US, or you can order yours online.

Casa Verde: Ikea Ditches Plastic Bags

CasaSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:30:00 -0700

Good news for those of us who hate plastic bags: As of October 2008, Ikea will no longer offer plastic or paper bags. Instead, the store will only offer reusable plastic bags to its customers. Last March, Ikea set a goal of reducing its US stores’ plastic bag consumption by 50 percent, reducing plastic bag use from 70 million to 35 million plastic bags in the first year. The store wanted customers to go reusable, and sold the sturdy Ikea blue bag for $.59.
And if Ikea customers weren't happy with that choice, they previously had the option of purchasing Ikea plastic bags for five cents, with all proceeds going to American Forests to plant trees to restore forests and reduce CO₂ emissions. Since the "bag the plastic bag" program began in March of 2007, Ikea has donated more than $300,000 from their disposable plastic bag sales to American Forests.

I, for one, am looking forward to October, when Ikea is completely disposable-bag free.
Source

An Inconveniently Convenient Bag

partysugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:01:31 -0700

I have always had a thing for fabulous handbags. Last year, when it became uncool to use environmentally unfriendly plastic and paper grocery bags, I suddenly started collecting reusable, canvas grocery bags. Last season I was obsessed with the I'm Not A Plastic Bag statement tote and this year I'm crazy about The Inconvenient Bag ($19.99) carryall.

Neither paper nor plastic, this large canvas tote - available in four different designs - is the size of a normal, brown grocery bag and can hold up to 45 pounds. The bags are made in LA from biodegradable cotton and non-toxic dyes. While it may not be as convenient as carrying groceries home in paper or plastic, toting my food in the inconvenient bag, makes me feel like I'm doing my part to help save the world.

If you don't have a reusable tote, I highly recommend this fun, fashionable, eco-friendly bag!

Helping the Environment Is in the Bag?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:01:35 -0700

A report just released shows that the US set a record for recycling plastic bags in 2006. Up a whopping 24 percent, the record high validates a growing national recycling trend sweeping the states. Of the 812 million pounds of plastic recovered, tons will become usable goods like decking. It's thought that the growing trend of bag recycling bins at stores as well as outright banning is helping to dump the plastic problem.

Cities like San Francisco sparked a wave of disdain for the once ubiquitous sack, and today Nashville is not far behind. If not outright bans, some cities are considering taxing the totes. The Massachusetts Legislature is debating a measure that would enact a two-cent tax that could rise all the way to 15 cents per bag over the next seven years. They hope the new tax will shrink the 380 billion plastic bags Americans use every year - a lot of which end up as litter or in a landfill.

It's not just US cities banning the bags - China announced a nationwide outlawing at the beginning of the year, which is scheduled to kick in June 1, 2008. Early adopters have already caused the nation's biggest plastic bag factory to shutter.

Britain has added the bags to a list of possible items eligible for a "sin tax" and is contemplating an outright ban by 2009.

It might just be time to consider your answer to that perennial "paper or plastic" question carefully.

Do you take your own bags to the store? Are you behind the war on bags?

Source

Do you Think that You Should Pay for Plastic Bags?

FabSugarUK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:00:52 -0800

It was announced today that fashion retailer Debenhams will begin to charge for their plastic bags. The scheme is to be introduced in the aim of reducing the amount of plastic bags that are used as 12 billion to 13 bn carrier bags are handed out by retailers every year. They will test charging 5p for the bags and will often a cotton tote as an alternative. Debenhams are the first fashion store to try the initiative, but do you think it's a good idea?

Casa Link: Quilted DIY

CasaSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:00:26 -0800

Craft shares an ambitious plastic bag-recycling project. While I've shown you a nifty fused plastic bag project in the past, this one definitely gets high marks for its innovative quilting and eye for detail. Find out how it was done here.

Whole Foods Bans Plastic Bags

YumSugar — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:27:31 -0800

Plastic bags seem to be the new public enemy number one. They have already been banned in San Francisco, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and several other cities. Not to mention that the entire country of China is going to start charging consumers for them. Having said all that, it should come as no surprise to hear that Whole Foods is eliminating plastic grocery bags from its stores. The chain is hoping to encourage folks to BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag - and will refund five cents for every brought bag that is used. Folks who don't bring their own bags will be able to use Whole Foods's 100 percent recycled and recyclable paper bags. It is hoping to be completely plastic bag free by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.

So what do you think of this plastic bag ban? Do you agree? Will you be bringing your own bag?

How To: Make Fabric Shopping Bags

CasaSugar — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:15:18 -0800

Did you know that each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide?

To do your part to reduce this huge amount of waste, make your own fabric shopping bags with these easy instructions from Kristina J. Millar when you read more.

What You Need

heavy-duty fabric, such as canvas or upholstery fabric
thread
scissors
sewing machine

How To Make It

Choose some fabric - something heavy like canvas or upholstery-grade cotton. It can be as plain or as fancy as you like.
Measure out a long rectangle for the bag (your finished bag will be about half the length of your original so decide how big you want your bag to be, then double the length). Measure out two long rectangles for the handles that are about 6 inches wide (if you want long handles measure out long rectangles; the ones above were 20 inches long).
To sew the handles, fold the long edges of your rectangle into the middle, fold in half then topstitch it together.
Sew a half-inch seam along the short ends of your long rectangle on each side (they need to face each other when you fold the edges together) and attach the handles approx 4 inches in from the edge on the sides with the seam.
Fold the good sides together and close the two long sides (the bottom of the bag is made up of the fold, which is why you cut a long rectangle). As this bag won’t be lined you should zig-zag stitch the seam to prevent fraying.
Turn right side out and enjoy your shopping!

Source