RawFoodBlog

Mexico City Bans Bags: 6 Ways to Join In
posted by Melissa Breyer Aug 20, 2010 4:31 pm
filed under: Green Kitchen Tips, Healthy Home, Nature & Wildlife, News & Issues, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, shopping bags

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/mexico-city-bans-bags-6-ways-to-join-in.html

Stores across Mexico City’s went bagless this week as amended ordinances on solid waste prohibited businesses from giving out non-biodegradable plastic shopping bags. The law affects all stores, production facilities and service providers within the Federal District (which encompasses the city limits) making Mexico City the second large metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw the bags. In 2007, San Francisco enacted an ordinance to phase out the bags, and Los Angeles is set to impose a ban if the state of California does not enact a statewide 25-cent fee per bag.

Isn’t that great?! Between 500 billion and one trillion plastic grocery bags are produced worldwide each year. (Isn’t that not great?!) The average number of plastic bags consumed every minute around the world is roughly 1 million a minute. Not too shocking to hear that plastic bags are the second-most-common form of litter, behind cigarette butts. The bags are the greatest form of litter on the globe’s oceans, the U.N. agency said in a recent report, resulting in the estimated death of 100,000 whales, turtles, and other marine animals annually.

In the United State alone, 12 million barrels of oil are required to produce enough plastic bags to appease our needs. And then there’s that little decomposition problem: 500 years in the landfill. About 90 percent of the bags used in the United States are not recycled.

According to a report from CNN, other places are taking the problem seriously as well: China has adopted a strict limit, reducing litter and eliminating the use of 40 billion bags, the World Watch Institute said. In Tanzania, selling the bags carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and a fine of 1.5 million shilling ($1,137). Mumbai, India, outlawed the bags in 2000 and cities in Australia, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan have imposed bans or surcharges. Ireland reported cutting use of the bags by 90 percent after imposing a fee on each one.

Next: What you can do–6 tips.