Do Not Put Plastic Bags In Curbside Recyling Bins

February 2, 2010Green IssuesRecyclingBulletin Bag

Bob Cappadona manages the fifth-largest recycling facility in the United States: Casella Waste’s materials recovery facility in Charlestown, Massachusetts. That’s where more than 30 area municipalities bring their curbside recycling for processing.

Cappadonna says the biggest issue he has to deal at his facility is what he calls “plastic bag contamination. Single-use plastic grocery bags can clog the automatic sorting machines used to make recycling financially feasible. The bags are such a problem that sometimes Cappadonna has to shut down his 700-ton a day process so employees wielding knives can climb in to the huge machines to cut errant bags out—a delay that can take hours.

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Wal Mart Shows Its Green Side

January 19, 2010Green IssuesPlastics Reduction, RetailBulletin Bag

Wal-Mart’s greening up three of its Northern California stores. According to The Sacramento Bee, the move is part of an experiment to ease customers into the bring-your-own-bag habit as the huge retailer attempts to reduce its global waste. If they forget bags, they can buy reusable bags from Wal-Mart in two sizes, for 15 cents and 50 cents. The company is also training checkers on how to fill reusable bags to capacity.

The effort is part of the company’s Plastic Bag Initiative, which aims to reduce plastic bag waste at its stores worldwide 33% by 2013. The company says the effort would help it avoid producing 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and prevent the consumption of 678,000 barrels of oil every year.

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Stephen Colbert Versus Captain Charles Moore

January 8, 2010Green IssuesEnvironmental, Plastics ReductionBulletin Bag

On January 6th , I saw a great interview on The Colbert Report. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, Stephen Colbert is the host and executive producer of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series on Comedy Central. I am a huge fan of his and the show is hilarious.

Colbert’s guest was Captain Charles Moore. He’s the person who stumbled onto the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is believed to be the world’s largest dump. Plastic debris from the world over makes its way into waterways, where it’s carried out to sea and trapped in swirling ocean currents, thereby forming a trash dump in the North Pacific that’s twice the size of Texas.

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Attention Maine Retailers and Grocers: We Have Your Bags!

January 5, 2010Bulletin Bag Products, Promotion IdeasPrinting Ideas, RetailBulletin Bag

Bulletin Bag [.com], a Maine-based supplier of custom printed reusable totes and bags, is proud to offer official “Got Your Bags Maine” reusable shopping bags!

If you are a Maine retailer who already sells reusable bags (or is considering selling reusable bags), join Got Your Bags Maine in promoting awareness and single-use paper and plastic bag reduction in Maine. For a limited time, Bulletin Bag [.com] is offering some of our favorite reusable bags at reduced pricing for Maine retailers and grocers.

Bags feature the official Got Your Bags Maine logo on one side of the bag, and you can choose to add your store logo or custom messaging to the other side. Choose from one of these great bags currently on special:

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The Post Holiday Rubbish Mountain: Trash or Recyclable?

December 21, 2009Green IssuesRecycling, SeasonalBulletin Bag

The holiday season brings joy…and a substantial amount of waste. Have a green holiday—know what parts of your post-gift trash mountain are recyclable. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Wrapping Paper: Wrapping paper is fun, but it is generally produced with a lot of chemical dyes that contribute to water pollution. Although you can put some wrapping paper in the recycling bin, the heavy inks downgrade the quality of the paper.

What’s your best bet for recycling-friendly wrapping paper?

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Can You Go A Day Without A Plastic Bag?

December 12, 2009Green IssuesEvents, Plastics ReductionBulletin Bag

Looking for ways bring your community together through a reusable bag promotion? Try engaging your community, city, county or state in an event like Heal the Bay’s A Day Without A Bag.

More than 50 locations throughout Los Angeles County are giving away nearly 20,000 reusable bags on December 17, 2009 as part of the third annual “A Day Without a Bag,” which urges consumers to forego environmentally harmful single-use plastic grocery bags and paper bags in favor of reusable totes.

The event, organized by environmental group Heal the Bay, is sponsored by the City and County of Los Angeles. Dozens of community groups will be conducting reusable bag giveaways and grassroots education for consumers and free reusable shopping bags will be available to patrons of high-profile retail centers throughout the region.

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Green Up Your Holidays!

December 3, 2009Green IssuesRecycling, Seasonal, SustainabilityBulletin Bag

According to Planet Green:
2,000: Christmas trees planted per acre on average at Christmas tree farms.
18: People who get their daily oxygen requirement from one acre of Christmas trees.
10: Years it takes a Christmas tree to mature enough to be cut.

In light of these statistics, we think it’s a good time to stop and think about ways in which we can lessen our impact on Mother Earth this season.

1. Christmas Trees
Though the use of pesticides on Christmas trees has declined by 50 percent over the last decade, many are still sprayed. Look for trees that were grown using sustainable methods and without pesticides. These sellers are usually either certified organic by the Department of Agriculture or are members of Certified Naturally Grown. If you choose to have a vendor cut trees and set up shop on a convenient street corner for your perusal, make sure the trees come from a local farm.

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DC Disposable Bag Fee Awareness Campaign Kicks Off

November 17, 2009Plastic Bag Bans, Promotion IdeasPlastics Reduction, RetailBulletin Bag

When everyone is on the same page, great things happen. This summer, Washington D.C. created a 5-cent disposable bag fee, aimed at keeping trash out of the city’s waterways. Starting January 1, 2010, businesses selling food and alcohol will charge five cents for disposable plastic OR paper bags. That money will go to the newly created Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund, which will be used to remove trash from the river.

The fee is the first in the country to apply to both plastic and paper bags. The awareness campaign, called “Skip the Bag, Save the River,” launched yesterday. Before the new law goes into effect, the D.C. Department of the Environment will distribute at least 100,000 free, reusable bags to D.C. residents, mainly seniors and low-income residents.

The beige and blue bags feature the slogan “Skip the Bag, Save the River.” The city is also planning an advertising campaign to promote the reusable bags, which it will finance using the fees it collects. About $3.6 million in tax revenue is expected in the program’s first year.

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Maine Is Going Reusable!

November 11, 2009Bulletin Bag Products, Green Issues, Promotion IdeasPlastics Reduction, RetailBulletin Bag

On Monday, the Maine Merchants Association announced the “Got Your Bags, Maine?” initiative to encourage increased reusable bag use. Following a resolution passed by the Legislature last Spring, Maine Merchants Association, Maine Grocers Association the state Chamber of Commerce, Natural Resources Council of Maine and a growing number of Maine retailers and grocers have joined forces after being brought together over the summer by the Maine State Planning Office. The public education and outreach effort is aimed at encouraging Mainers to increase the usage of reusable bags for shopping and decrease the use of single use paper and plastic bags.

“The kick off of this campaign is a monumental achievement and we are thrilled to see the state of Maine taking leadership on this issue….” says Suzette Bergeron, owner of Bulletin Bag [.com] based in southern Maine. We first got involved in Maine’s campaign against wasteful paper and plastic when former Representative Ted Koffman put forth a bill to put a fee on paper and plastic in 2007.

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The Inevitable Appearance of a Plastic Grocery Bag

November 6, 2009Green IssuesPlastics ReductionBulletin Bag

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, even the most diligent reusable bag user winds up with unwanted plastic bags on occasion. So, when the plastic grocery bags do magically appear in your life, here are five ways to reuse them.

1. Grab two socks and sew the toes together. Stuff each sock full of plastic grocery bags (cut up or not). Sew each end shut and voila…a draft stopper that keeps air from getting under doors.

2. Do you have a drafty house? To lessen drafts that come in, stuff plastic bags into cracks where air comes through.

3. Stinky trash? Fill a plastic bag with potpourri and secure the bag closed (tie, tape, staple). Cut very small holes in the bag and tape it to the lid of the container for a fresh scent. This works in closets, too!

4. Are you creative? Cut up plastic bags can double as: pom pons, hula skirts, kite tails, and bows for presents.

5. Heading out in mucky weather without proper footwear? Put plastic bags on your feet over your socks for extended exposure to wet elements, or over your shoes for a quick walk from building to car (be careful…it can be slippery).