So here is a video with more information...
Per the video above, China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban of free plastic bags. -- Source: CNN.com/asia January 9, 2008
That's a lot of oil!!
The slideshow above was created by The Pocono Record.
For more information, see PoconoGreen: Your place for the latest environmental news from the Pocono Record.
Here's their multimedia section (see below) which discusses the dangers of plastic bags if you'd like to learn more. It contains a petition regarding plastic bags. As you saw in the video clip above, numerous other countries outside the US have taken measures to outlaw or tax plastic bags... PoconoGreen Multimedia.
San Francisco, CA was the first US state to attempt banning plastic bags.
See related articles about that here:
S.F. FIRST CITY TO BAN PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS: Supermarkets and chain pharmacies will have to use recyclable or compostable sacks
Unfair Park: The Dallas Observer Blog - Article title: San Francisco Banned Plastic Bags. But Dallas? Not Going to Happen.
The Dallas article above quoted the American Chemistry Council, which was apparently quoted in April 2008, as stating that insisting a ban on plastic bags and food containers would:
"have negative consequences on the local environment, the economy and the school system"
Really!? I'm not following their logic but that is apparently their argument against banning plastic bags. I do know that my quick scan of their site just now looked like one big ad for how wonderful they are and how they are helping everyone from the infant pictured in an incubator to a small child smiling from her bicycle. I'm not saying that plastics don't ever serve any useful purpose. I just thought the pictures prominently displayed on their site were interesting choices. I'll leave it at that.
Anyway, moving on to others working to tackle the plastic bag problem...
The Whole Foods chain announced in January 2008 that it would stop offering plastic bags to its customers:
Whole Foods Chain to Stop Use of Plastic Bags.
As Jessica of Live On Purpose, a reader of this blog, remarked in a comment to a post the other day, some areas in Colorado reward shoppers with 5 cents off their grocery bill for returning their plastic bags to stores.
As Ayaka Nangumo from Facebook noted:
"In many stores in Japan, if you bring your own bag, you receive a point. You collect the points, and you can use the points to exchange to something or get some discount. I always carry what we call "eco-bag." These bags look much nicer than plastic bags, and they are durable, so I don't have to worry that the bag may get torn while I'm walking back home".
Susie from The Canary Report just clued me in to a very interesting site written by Beth Terry called Fake Plastic Fish. I can't wait to take a closer look at it as it seems jam-packed with information!!
Finally, Beth's site mentioned PVC and reminded me of a cool movie I saw awhile back called Blue Vinyl.
For those unfamiliar with PVC, it has been linked to endometriosis. PVC is short for polyvinyl chloride (PVC)... (i.e. "vinyl").
When reading the wikipedia entry above on PVC, you may want to pay special attention to the mention of the toxins dioxins and phthalates. These are connected to a great many illnesses, including endometriosis!
For information about the relation between endometriosis and toxins like dioxin and PVC, see the EA website section: Endometriosis Association's section titled "Toxic Link to Endo"
Related are some links (see blog archives for more):
Thursday, December 11, 2008 The Canary Report Features This Blog, Why Plastic Bags Are Bad News, And What Houghton Mifflin Is Teaching Students About Global Warming... (UPDATED)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: How You Can Help Patients With This Often Debilitating Condition!! (UPDATED With USA Today article)!
This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.
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