{news} PRESS RELEASE- SF bans plastic bags; Green supervisor leads charge

[Green Party-CT]

Scott McLarty <scottmclarty at yahoo.com> wrote:  From: Scott McLarty <scottmclarty at yahoo.com>
To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org, media-states at lists.gp-us.org,
lavender-caucus at green.gpus.org
Subject: [media-states] ADVISORY: SF bans plastic bags; Green supervisor leads charge
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:57:24 -0700 (PDT)

Distributed by the Green Party of the United
States http://www.gp.org

News Advisory
THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA 
http://www.cagreens.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Contact: Susan King, spokesperson, 415.823-5524 
funking at mindspring.com
Dr. Bob Vizzard, spokesperson, 916.206 8953,
thevizz at aol.com
Sara Amir, spokesperson, 310.270-7106 
saraamir at earthlink.net
Cres Vellucci, press secretary, 916.996-9170 
civillib at cwnet.com 


San Francisco becomes the first city in nation to
ban plastic bags; Green Party supervisor leads
fights to save planet, marine life


SAN FRANCISCO (March 27, 2007) – San Francisco
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi – one of 50 elected
Green Party members in the state – pushed through
an ordinance late Tuesday that would make San
Francisco the first city in the nation to ban the
use of all but the most environmentally-sound
shopping bags.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1
Tuesday to require the city's grocery stores and
chain pharmacies to use only recyclable paper or
compostable bags, despite stiff resistance from
the California Grocers Association and the
plastic industry.

"I have been astounded by the worldwide attention
the issue has received. Hopefully, other cities
and states will follow suit," said Mirkarimi,
adding that he believes the decision is part of a
"trend of making sure that a forward-thinking
economy is one that understands its relationship
with our environment."

The measure had been delayed after the grocery
industry went to the Legislature to intervene.
Now, the law goes into effect for 54 grocery
stores within six months, and a year for large
pharmacies with at least five locations. It
benefits consumers in many ways, says Mirkarimi.

The compostable "plastic" bags are stronger, they
can be dumped directly into a compost pile
because they are made from starches like corn and
potatoes and they won't pollute the environment,
kill marine life or gum up recycling machines.
The cost for compostable bags is about the same
as paper bags.

Plastic bags are a worldwide environmental
disaster – and many countries have already made
the leap to rid themselves of the bags, of which
as many as one trillion are used worldwide every
year, according to experts. Sea life, from whales
to turtles to sea birds, ingest the bags.

The plastic bags are pervasive. In South Africa,
there are two Texas-size "islands" of plastic
bags floating at sea, and Bangladesh banned
plastic when it was discovered millions of the
bags blocked drains and led to massive flooding.
In Ireland, a "bag fee" led to a 90 percent
reduction in the use of plastic in three years.

-30-








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    Tim McKee cell (860) 778-1304 or (860) 643-2282
   National Committee Member of the Green Party(Connecticut)





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