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Category Archives: Green Issues

Florida State of (Reusable Bag) Mind!

Green Issues, Plastic Bag Bans,

Florida environmental officials are trying to make their state the first to ban single-use plastic AND paper bags. Their stance is that manufacturing paper bags creates as much pollution as disposing of plastic bags. Disposable plastic bags are a headache for those who maintain storm drains and landfill machinery and are a source of litter across landscapes and on ocean currents.

plastic_bag_recycle_binFloridians used more than 5 billion disposable plastic and paper bags in 2003, the most recent year for which figures are available. But state environmental officials aren’t deterred. They are following the lead of San Francisco and other communities by proposing to ban the bags completely .

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Plastic Shopping Bags: Truth in Numbers

Green Issues,

500,000,000,000: Society’s annual consumption rate of plastic bags–nearly 1 million per minute.
380,000,000,000: Number of plastic shopping bags consumed by Americans per year.
12,000,000: Barrels of oil used per year to produce plastic shopping bags used by Americans.
1,000,000: Seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals & sea turtles worldwide die yearly from ingesting plastics.
46,000: Pieces of plastic rubbish found on every square mile of central Pacific Ocean.
1,460: Number of plastic bags used each year by the average family of four.
1,000: Number of years that single-use plastic bags can remain on our planet.
75: Percentage of all grocery bags used in the US that are plastic.
2: Percentage of plastic bags produced each year that are recycled.
1: Number of high-quality reusable bags needed to eliminate up to 1,000 plastic bags.

Use One, Save 1,000.

turtle_with_bag

Big Ideas for a Small Planet: Damariscotta, Maine

Bulletin Bag Products, Green Issues, Promotion Ideas, , , , ,

Lincoln Academy’s Climate Action Club , located in Damariscotta, Maine, has been trying to raise awareness about reusable bags in their community for several years.  Headed by Chloe Maxim, the CAC created a video about the problems with plastic bags . Subsequently, Chloe and the CAC gained recognition by the Sundance Channel, MTV, and others.  The project began with a video, and then a pledge page (to pledge the use of reusable bags). From there, it blossomed into a full-blown campaign. Their goal? Reduce the use of plastic bags in Damariscotta by distributing town-wide custom-imprinted reusable bags.

image2The CAC, together with local businesses, organizations, and individuals, sponsor the bags in exchange for their logo imprinted on each reusable bag. The CAC led a very successful merchant’s meeting last March to discuss their campaign with local merchants Former Maine Representative Ted Koffman and reusable bag expert Suzette Bergeron of Bulletin Bag.

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Trading Plastic for Power

Green Issues, Promotion Ideas, ,

About a year ago, Colorado mountain towns Telluride and Aspen competed to see whose residents could consume fewer disposable plastic bags in favor of reusable bags. Over the course of the three-month challenge, the two towns cut back on almost 150,000 disposable plastic bags!  The winner of the challenge was Telluride and as a reward they received new solar panels for the local high school.  The solar panels come in the form of a grant issued by Alpine Bank.

Dave Allen, who spearheaded the effort with Aspen’s Nathan Ratledge, started contacting members of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns to see if a bigger challenge had yet to be born. Apparently, it was simply a matter of planting the seed and building momentum, because word of this eco-friendly rivalry spread quicker than skiers and boarders can cut first tracks and everyone wanted a shot at reducing their plastic bag consumption. Enter round two of the challenge.

Twenty-five ski towns throughout the Rocky Mountains are participating in the 2009 Colorado Association of Ski Towns (CAST) Reusable Bag Challenge sponsored by Alpine Bank. The contest runs now through September 1st, and the prize is the same (why change what works?)—solar panel energy for a public school in the winning town.

Towns like Durango are organizing their efforts through the towns Rotary youth groups.  Bags are tallied every time someone brings in a reusable bag, so if one person brings 5 bags, 5 tallies are counted. What a great way to get an entire community to rally around reducing plastic waste and using reusable shopping bags. Just think of what we could accomplish in a worldwide contest …

Why we need to reduce plastic – starting now!

Green Issues, ,

350px-north_pacific_gyre_world_mapHave you ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ? It’s 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. Even Oprah’s talking about it !

Think that doesn’t affect you? About 46,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating in every square mile of ocean. Up to one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles worldwide die each year from eating plastic. When two scientists in the Pacific caught a commercially harvested fish and cut it open, they found 17 pieces of plastic inside. We need to educate people are the very real consequences of our addiction to throw-away plastic. Captain Charle’s Moore, who confirmed the phenomenon in a 1977 sailing expedition, will begin more intense voyage in June, to further his research and help build awareness of this issue, according to the Huffinton Post.

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Bulletin Bag Recognized at Maine Statehouse Event

Green Issues, ,

Bulletin Bag [.com] recognized at Maine Statehouse event.  A press conference was held today at the Maine Statehouse in Augusta to discuss the resolution presented by Representative Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor). The resolution encourages the public to reduce disposable bags by 50% by Earth Day 2008.  Suzette Bergeron, Owner of Bulletin Bag [.com] was invited to speak about plans for Bulletin Bag [.com] and demonstrate how the reusable bag movement creates jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for Maine people.

The press conference was led by Representative Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor ). Commissioner David Littell (Maine Department of Environmental Protection), Amie Joseph (Maine Grocers Association), a representative from Governor Baldacci’s office and a representative from Hannaford supermarkets also spoke at the event.

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Paper or Plastic: what are the issues, what are the choices?

Green Issues, ,

Producer and host Ron Beard of University of Maine Cooperative interviews Suzette Bergeron, Owner of Bulletin Bag [.com] on WERU’s Community Radio show ‘Talk of the Towns’. The show is titled: Paper or Plastic-what are the issues, what are the choices?  Other guests include: State Representative Ted Koffman, House District; Feargal Quinn, SuperQuinn grocery chain, Ireland; Megan Hellstead, Hannaford Supermarkets and Mindy Veichiniki, Bar Harbor Whale Museum. Suzette discusses how businesses and nonprofits are using reusable bags for events, fundraisers and promotions. She will also share details on Bulletin Bags statewide reusable bag design contest for school age kids. Listen to the podcast here…

Bulletin Bag Announces Reusable Bag Drawing Contest

Green Issues, Promotion Ideas,

Bulletin Bag [.com] announces the first annual “NURTURE NATURE KIDS DRAWING CONTEST” Kids care about the environment—and they want to know how to help. Reusable cloth shopping bags are one way to clean up the planet we call home. Maine children in grades 3-7 are invited to submit drawings in the theme of Earth Day, climate change, recycling or anything nature related. The winning artist will have their design printed on 1000 special Bulletin Bags, receive public recognition and win a $100 gift card!

Teachers and youth leaders can register their youth group for the drawing contest. The Bulletin Bag team will send out a contest kit, which includes information about the problems with disposable paper and plastic bags, entry forms, official rules and a return envelope for mailing completed forms (please allow 2 weeks to receive your Contest Kit).

Children can also download entry forms for the reusable bag drawing contest at the Bulletin Bag website, or they can pick up a form at their local Shaw’s Supermarket.

The first 1000 children who enter will be sent a free Bulletin Bag printed with the winning artwork AND be entered to win more great prizes (stay tuned for prize details!). The contest ends April 30, 2008.

Bulletin Bag [.com] is proud to be working on this project in cooperation with Representative Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor and Chair of Natural Resources Committee of Maine). Representative Koffman has been instrumental in raising awareness about the problems with single-use paper & plastic bags.

The contest is being held to raise awareness about the problems with paper and plastic bags – and study the interest and impact of a cooperative advertising campaign using reusable bags. Read the article on Bulletin Bags Nurture Nature Design Contest in the York County Coast Star …

Plastic Bag Bill in Maine

Green Issues, Plastic Bag Bans

Earlier this fall, Maine State Representative Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor) proposed a bill which would place a fee on single use plastic bags in Maine.  A democrat from Bar Harbor and co-chair of the Natural Resources Committee of Maine, Representative Koffman is asking Maine to take leadership in the ‘Bring Your Own Bag’ movement.  But it seems Maine isn’t ready – or at least not in this legislative session.  The upcoming short session is reserved primarily for ‘emergency’ bills, so Maine’s lawmakers decided not to bring it forward.   Representative Koffman, however, is still working with grocery chains, the Maine Grocer’s Association, nonprofit groups and entrepreneurs to continue the push toward reusable bags.

Representative Koffman’s plan was loosely based on the ‘Plas Tax’ which began in Ireland in 2002.  Ireland’s action was driven by an effort to control litter — and resulted in a bill that required retailers to charge a tax (equivalent to 33 cents US) for each plastic bag used by shoppers.  Ireland also ran an awareness campaign encouraging people to bring their own bag.  In a matter of months, 90% of shoppers in Ireland had transitioned to reusable bags.  The tax has proven to be wildly successful, as 5 years later nearly everyone is on board – to the point that there is a stigma associated with plastic bag use.

Learn more about Representative Koffman’s plans for tackling the paper/plastic dilemma at mainetoday.com