Let’s Talk Plastic

Free plastic bags are too expensive United States uses 100 billion plastic bags per

year: = 12 million barrels of petroleum or 504 million gallons = $4 billion/year cost passed onto consumers

• 13 bags = petroleum to drive 1 mile• Plastic bags take 400 – 1,000 years to biodegrade• Less than 10% of plastic bags are recycled

Wildlife and the Environment• An estimated 100,000 marine mammals and up to 1 million sea

birds die every year after ingesting or being tangled in plastic  marine litter.

• Plastic bags travel:  they float easily in the air and water.  • They have been found on the bottom of the ocean and the top

of Mt. Everest• They are litter; clogging waterways and sewers• They contaminate compost and hinder recycling efforts

½ Days Litter Without Even Looking

What about paper bags?Customers are rarely asked “Paper or Plastic” anymore because paper is no better:

• High energy from production, use, and disposal as well as:• High water, atmospheric emissions• High cost and solid waste

Paper uses 14 million trees annuallyPaper must be turned to pulp when recycled, creating cardboard, not more paper bagsPaper doesn’t break down completely in landfills without light and oxygen

Neither is Better!

Steamboat’s Green Bag History• 1990:  local activists and YVR produced 300 reusable bags• 2008 – local activists approached YVR to energize bag program• 2008 – 2011:  Routt County Commissioners granted YVR “seed” money for a self

sustaining revolving fund to purchase and sell reusable shopping bags:• To date, approx 8,000 bags sold at cost

o Local small retailerso Promotions at large retailers, including:

Thanksgiving “Put Your Turkey in a Bag” Christmas “Bag Your Gifts” Start your New Year with a Green Bag Saint Patrick Day Green Bags

• 2009 Colorado Association of Ski Towns Bag Challengeo Steamboat finished 6th in per capita savings & 3rd in total bags savedo Steamboat shoppers used 169,285 reusable bags from March – August,

2009• “Bagit” Movie – March, 2011

o 135 attendees asked YVR to bring the discussion to the next level

Success in Other Communities around the WorldWorld Wide Bag Bans:

• 1999 Corsica in large stores – first island• 2002 Bangladesh all polyethylene bags – first large country• 2003 Taiwan plastic plates, cups, cutlery • 2003 Himachal Pradesh India manufacture, sale, and use of all plastic bags• 2003 South Africa – all think plastic bags, retailers not in compliance fined $13,000US• 2003 Rwanda – all polythene products• 2004 Papa New Guinea all plastic bags, retailers not in compliance face jail time• 2005 Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Goa, Keral and Karmatak States of India • 2006 Tanzania all plastic bags• 2007 Taiwan all plastic bags• 2007 Kenya and Uganda all plastic bags• 2008 China all plastic bags – production, sale and use of bags under .025mm thick• 2008 Buenos Aires all plastic bags, must be biodegradable by 2010• 2009 South Australia all plastic bags• 2009 Bolivia all plastic bags• 2010 France all non biodegradable bags at all shops• 2010 Sioux Lookout, Ontario all plastic bags• 2010 Wood Buffalo, Alberta all single use bags• 2010 Manitoba all single use bags• 2010 Thompson Canada plastic bags• 2011 Italy all non biodegradable bags at all shops• 2011 Northern Territory Australia all plastic bags• 2011 New South Wales all plastic bags

US cities Bag Bans:

2007 San Francisco first US city - all plastic bags2008 Manhattan Beach CA – all plastic bags2008 Malibu City CA – all plastic bags, fine up to $10002009 North Carolina barrier islands plastic bags2009 Edmonds WA – all plastic bags2009 Kaua’i and Maui HI – all plastic bags2010 Los Angeles – all single use plastic bags, replacing

a 10c tax2011 Long Beach CA – plastic bags2011 Calabasas CA – plastic bags2011 Santa Monica CA – plastic bags2011 Santa Clara CA – plastic bags2011 Portland Oregon – all plastic bags in stores larger

than 10,000 sq ft2011 Maui HI – all plastic bags2011 Telluride CO – all plastic bags townwide within

town limits2011 Westport CT – all plastic bags2011 Brownville TX – all plastic bags

Success at Home

Countries and Cities with Green Fees

2002 Ireland 2007 Belgium 2008 Israel 2010 Washington DC 2010 Mexico City 2010 Telluride CO2011 Wales 2011 Bulgaria 2011 Brownsville TX 2011 Aspen CO2011 Basalt CO

Best Case Study: Ireland

In 2002 Ireland began charging 28cents US for plastic and paper bags.

This green fee reduced non reusable bag usage by 95%.

Now nearly everyone in Ireland supports their community and proudly carries a reusable bag.

The Green Fee is NOT a “Tax”

Green Fee• Designed to educate • Reduces the use of

disposable bags• Similar to Use Fees like:

o Fish Creek Falls parking fee

o Routt County Landfill tipping fee

o Disposal fees for tires, car batteries, and motor oil

Tax• Effects everyone

regardless of use• Is harder to modify• Less choice/options

Carrots are good for you, but they don’t reduce plastic bag use

As studies have shown, City Market and Safeway also found that their reusable bag credits proved ineffective.

What is effective:

• Any fee placed on the bags must be large enough to influence consumer choices, while remaining politically acceptable. (ICF 2010)

• Education, though not sufficient by itself, is a necessary component of any economic instrument aimed to reduce bag Consumption (Herrera 2008).

• Fees that are directly passed onto consumers have been effective at altering behavior (Herrera et al 2008 – 133). Carrot or a Stick?

Colorado Mountain Towns• Telluride

o October, 2010 banned plastic bags + 10 cents per bag fee on “permitted paper bags”

• Aspeno August, 2011, passed first reading for 20

cents per bag fee on all non reusable bags at grocers

• Basalt o August, 2011, passed first reading for 20

cents per bag fee on all non reusable bags at grocers

• Carbondale o September 2011, first reading is scheduled

on ordinance for 20 cents per bag fee on all non reusable bags at grocers

Colorado Mountain Towns’ # 1 Goal: Support environment & reduce plastic

• Aspen’s program funds local environmental programs including:

o Programs and infrastructure to reduce waste and to recycleo Community cleanup eventso Education and public websiteo Reusable bags to residents and visitorso Administer bag program, including 5% retained by stores,

with a maximum of $100 monthly, $1,200 annually and $25 monthly thereafter

But, what about funds generated?

The Steamboat Way: Focus on community

Our environment is important to our locals, visitors and economy. We ski, hike, bike and shop green!

How can we reduce plastic in our environment?

Bans aren’t “Steamboat Friendly”Recognize the value of regional programs, and “Steamboatize” this idea

Solutions/Suggestions

• Begin with a “trial program” which can be reviewed modified, and managed• Consider starting with all non reusable shopping bags at large, high use

stores that sell groceries - focus on the goal of reducing plastic use• The stores have and will continue to be our “bag partners,” have

participating stores retain 1-2c/bag without a maximum • Let other stores opt in, at their discretion• Any proposed fee should be meaningful towards reducing non reusable

bag use: consider keeping it on par with regional discussions at 20c• The goal is to reduce plastic; but, what about the funds?

o Keep it similar to Routt County’s tipping fee, with funds targeted toward waste reduction, recycling and other environmental programs

o A “bag program” to purchase bags for low income residents and to offer reusable bags at a discount

o Public information and store signage are also possibilities for a “bag program”

• Continue current “green bag”, recycling and zero waste efforts

Think Global - Act Local

Keep our Mountains Green and thank you for talking plastic!