Bag-it Salida!
Americans use billions of plastic shopping bags each year, most which end up in landfills, the ocean or our environment. Though it is possible to recycle plastic bags, it is estimated that less than 3% of plastic bags end up recycled. We need another way to deal with our plastic bag problem and the students of the Crest Academy have decided to take action!
Our school is working to pass an ordinance that would place a 5-10 cent fee on plastic bags in Salida stores. Consumers would have the choice to bring their own reusable bags (for free of course!) or pay a fee for each plastic or paper bag used. Similar fees have been passed in Ireland, Washington D.C, and Basalt, CO; these towns have reduced plastic shopping bag use by 50-90 percent!
Come learn more about the “Bag-it Salida” campaign and why plastic bags are so bad for us at a FREE showing of Bag-it the movie, at 6:30 on February 2nd at the Community Center on 3rd and F st. We hope to see you there!
Way to go Crest! Thank you for helping us look at our behaviors of convenience and pushing us to change them. Seattle just passed a bag ban. They’ve been trying to pass it since 2008, so don’t lose faith. I hope eventually you’ll be able to ban plastic bags altogether. Then on to plastic bottles! Here’s a little more info on Seattle: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Plastic-bags-banned-in-Seattle-2412950.php
Really cool action by our youngers.
Kudos to the Crest kids for trying to do what we adults have failed to do. This will be no easy task. Call or email your Salida Council representatives and the Mayor to voice your support. You can find contact info here: http://cityofsalida.com/city-government/city-council/
Angel of Shavano Recycling completely supports Bag fees and Bans. Recycling plastic bags is extremely difficult and in the end result in very little benefits other than they are not in our landfill. Basically recycling plastic bags barely pays for itself and the only reason we take them is because we have an end user and I don’t want to fill our landfill with bags. We are one of an ever decreasing number of communties recycling plastic bags because of this. Keep it up Crest kids AOS supports your efforts.
Great idea and great work Crest students! Ever since I heard you were working at this I have remembered my re-usable bags when I go to the store! Thanks for already making an impact!
Would this only apply to grocery stores? I can’t really charge tourists for not carrying their own shopping bags; I’m afraid this would hurt downtown shops. I already charge them extra as a “donation” to the Land Trust; at some point they are going to balk. A charge for paper bags as well? All for eliminating some plastic bags though.
So much of what Crest students and supporters of a bag fee (or ban) are trying to do is related to educating the masses about how harmful plastic and single use plastic bags are to us and our environment. One of the best ways is to view the film, “Bag-it”. There will be a few more free showings of the film in the next few months and I encourage anyone who has not seen the film to see it! Bag-it is an informative and entertaining movie that will make an ever lasting impression on you. If you have seen it, please encourage others to see it. IF you are in support of helping reduce plastic bag use please sign a petition in various stores or stop by The Crest (12th and G) to sign a petition.
Perhaps a more accurate headline would be, “Crest Students Value Our Planet”. Thank you Crest students for seeing and caring.
A lot of cities and small towns are moving towards a bag ban. Brownsville, Texas charges for bags, and they are now banned outright on South Padre Island. So the Padre stores are using free paper sacks that are very sturdy and reusable.
In Salida, Safeway used to offer a 5cent per bag discount if you brought your own. It’s not a lot of money, but it made me A LOT more aware of carrying my own totes. Then it went away and I started using plastic again.
I believe an incentive like a discount, rather than a fee per bag is a better option.
However, I also didn’t think about the tourist issue Duke wrote about here, and it made me wonder if we couldn’t come up with some sort of “stations” where you could “use a sack (non-plastic of course), leave a sack”, kind of like the “borrow a bicycle” program in Amsterdam.
I realize it would take the honor system and self-regulation. I also realize some people might abuse the process, but overall, we have a good group of folks in the area and maybe the idea could catch on.
Maybe the students could have a project where they make a bunch reusable cloth sacks out of old, discarded material on its way to the landfill, and sell them for $1.00, or fill the “borrow a bag” stations with a “starter” bunch of the bags.
We have plenty of people here in town that would be more than willing to lend a hand and/or materials to the kids. I also like the whole idea because it’s forward-thinking on a number of fronts.
Good job Crest, keep pushing it and I think it will catch on!
i like how it feels.. :) :)