Natural Environment Blog

IKEA will stop offering plastic bags to its customers in all U.S. stores from October this year. The company has already removed plastic bags from its UK and Australian stores to great success.

In the U.S., IKEA has already reduced the number of plastic bags from its stores by 50% in one year. They did this simply by charging for them. Plastic bags were sold for a nickel, alongside reusable bags for 59 cents. The vast majority of customers - 92 per cent - opted against the plastic bags.

Pernille Spiers-Lopez, president of IKEA North America said:

The success of this program truly demonstrates that our customers care deeply about our global home and that we can all work together to be sustainable and environmentally responsible

Given the sheer number of plastic bags being used around the world each year and their impact on the environment, it’s great to see a major store like IKEA setting an excellent example for all those other stores who are still giving away plastic bags to their customers.

A report conducted in the United States shows that recycling of plastic bags and film increased by 24% in 2006 compared with 2005.

This indicates that there’s a growing trend towards recycling of plastic bags and film.

The report estimates that 812,010,000 pounds of post-consumer film (including plastic bags) was recovered in 2006. This compares with only 652,477,000 pounds recovered in 2005.

The report is entitled 2006 National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bags and Film Report, and was conducted by Moore Recycling Associates, Inc. of Sonoma, California.

The report encourages consumers to recycle the following:

• Grocery bags
• Retail bags (hard plastic and string handles removed)
• Paper towel and toilet paper plastic wrap
• Plastic newspaper bags
• Plastic dry cleaning bags
• All clean, clear plastic bags labeled with a #2 or #4

Of course, it’s better if you can avoid using these products in the first place. But, if you do happen to have them, try to recycle!

For more information, view the full report (PDF document).

How many times have you heard the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

What this means of course, is that a person cannot get something for nothing - there is always a cost. Some things appear to be free, but there’s always a hidden cost.

The phrase is actually a shortened version of “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” (TANSTAAFL) from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

It’s particularly aimed at society - meaning, if one individual or group gets something at no cost, another group or individual else ends up paying for it.

I wonder if plastic bags are today’s “free lunch”?

They are typically given away for free with everything you buy. Even if you buy one small item - you get a free plastic bag. How cool is that? A free thing with everything I buy!

So, we’ve had our free lunch. Now, every one of those free plastic bags is being paid for - by the natural environment. Unfortunately, the average 8 minutes of usage we got from each of our plastic bags will now take 1,000 years to be fully paid for. That’s how long it can take for a plastic bag to decompose. And that’s not all. There are many other impacts of plastic bags on the environment.

But, too often, the same old attitude seems to remain: I’ll use as many as I want - after all they’re free…

A group called “Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling” is taking Oakland City Council to court because it’s actually trying to do the right thing and ban plastic bags. According to the “coalition”, once the ban is in place, people will turn to paper bags - which are often said to be just as bad or worse than plastic bags.

The coalition’s attorney says:

“We believe that plastic-bag recycling is the most environmentally responsible strategy.”

Haven’t they heard of reusable bags? There are plenty of alternatives - we don’t just have to choose between paper and plastic!

Of course recycling plastic bags is better than not recycling them. But, as far as the environment goes, recycling plastic bags isn’t as good as simply reusing a good strong, durable bag that lasts for years.

But of course the coalition would like to keep plastic bags - it consists of plastic bag makers and recyclers.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle