Ostate of California have taken actionver fifty cities and counties around the against plastic bag litter, pollution and waste by approving ordinances to phase out single- use carryout bags. Napa Valley CanDo believes it is time for our area to do the same. by grania Lindbergh Beyond S - BAGSUSEINGLE Is it time for Napa to move forward? let’s review a few facts: Maureen, a San Francisco resident, has been taking her reusable bags for • An estimated 51 million plastic bags are discarded annually in Napa years, so now it’s just habit. She can still get plastic produce bags, takeout County. food bags, and food packaged in plastic bags. • Fewer than 3% of them are recycled. Department, variety or home improvement stores: Paper bags are available • Each bag is used an average of only 12 minutes before being discarded. for 10 to 25 cents. To avoid the cost, Maureen has a fold-up bag in her purse. • Most bags that are reused are reused only once and then go in the trash. • Plastic bags in the trash end up in our landfill, where they persist for Lining trash cans: Maureen buys low cost compostable bags for food waste hundreds of years. or lines her compost bin with newspaper. San Francisco has food waste • Plastic bags are made from fossil fuels, creating green house gases. composting, which Napa will have in another year or so. If her trash can • When plastic bags enter the river, ocean marine animals and birds see gets messy, she washes it out. them as food and are killed by ingesting them. 267 species are affected. What’s happened is clear: Consumers change their habits • Microscopic plastic particles are now found in the tissue of fish that we eat. when single-use bags become unavailable or costly. • Paper bags, although biodegradable, have an environmental cost in the trees, water, energy and chemicals used to make paper. How would a local ordinance affect business owners in Napa? Remember • Litter in the Valley has become an eyesore. It negatively impacts our those fifty jurisdictions around the state? Some are big ones like San communities and distracts tourists’ from the delights of the vineyards. Francisco, San Jose, Alameda and Los Angeles County, with many retailers. Plastic debris entering local creeks and the Napa River eventually enters Chain stores are already complying with single-use phase-out ordinances in the bay and the ocean, adding to the Great Pacific Gyre, a soup of plastic those locations. Instead of putting your purchase into a plastic bag before the size of Texas collected north of Hawaii by ocean currents. We must you have a chance to say no, they are now asking if you want to purchase a stop adding to this assault on our senses and our environment. bag. This is where you can hand them your reusable bag with a smile. The latest generation of ordinances phasing out single- What about small local businesses? When Vallerga’s and Browns Valley use bags does the following: Market owners were interviewed by Napa Valley CanDo, owners said that as • Prohibits most distribution of plastic carryout bags by retailers. long as all grocery stores had to follow the same rules, they wouldn’t oppose • Allows the shopper to bring in their own bag of any kind. a phase-out. CanDo and Sustainable Napa County are working with the • Stores exempted from the ordinance include takeout food vendors, local Chamber of Commerce to participate in this discussion. A phase-in caterers, prepared food vendors, dry cleaners, newspaper deliverers and schedule can give small businesses adequate time to prepare. Nonprofit Charitable Reuse Organizations. Communities where a phase-out of single-use bags has been implemented • Requires the retailer to charge a pass-through cost of about 10 cents (the report dramatic reductions in litter around their cities and in creeks and average actual cost) for a recycled paper bag. Retailer keeps the charge. the bay. They are saving the money that would be needed for clean-up, • Defines what stores are covered, the phase-in schedule and the penalties and creating a healthier environment for residents and wildlife. Residents for noncompliance, and defines responsibility for enforcement. realize the benefit of their new habits and feel proud of what their cities have accomplished. How does this really work? In San Francisco most plastic bags were banned several years back. Isn’t it time for Napa to join this It’s working so well that the city recently updated forward-thinking movement? If you its ordinance to cover more bags and more would like to add your voice, look for CanDo’s retailers. Here’s what we have learned about life on-line petition asking our elected officials to under such an ordinance: adopt an ordinance phasing out single-use bags. Go to http://www.change.org/petitions/ Grocery shopping: Checkers ask, “Would phasing-out-plastic-bags-in-napa-county-2. you like to purchase a paper bag?” My cousin J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 3 49
NVLife Jan-Feb 2013
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