Two articles on plastic bags
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dhlcMarkets and S.F. agree on reducing bag use / Goal is 10 million fewer plastic sacks for grocery shoppers
Charlie Goodyear
3 November 2005
The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco officials have struck an ambitious deal with large supermarket chains to reduce by 10 million the number of plastic grocery bags given to shoppers by the end of next year.
The agreement comes after political support for a proposed 17- cent tax on grocery bags in San Francisco -- which would have been a first for any American city -- failed to materialize earlier this year.
The deal, to be honored by Albertson's, Andronico's, Bell Markets, CalMart, Cala Foods, Foods Co., Mollie Stone's and Safeway stores at 54 locations, will permit the city's Department of the Environment to count bags handed out to shoppers -- usually a closely held business secret for supermarkets. The stores also have agreed to examine their in-store recycling efforts and promotion of reusable bags to help reach the city's reduction goal.
"We do, in my perspective, have a problem," said Mayor Gavin Newsom at a City Hall press conference with supermarket executives. "There is an environmental impact of bags. This will be the first city in America to establish these types of goals."
The exact number of grocery bags dispensed in the city each year is unknown, but estimates range from 50 million to 150 million. A majority are plastic, and they are blamed for clogging landfills, jamming recycling machines and killing marine life.
"I think 10 million bags is significant," said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the city's Department of the Environment. "It amounts to 95 tons that doesn't end up in landfills."
The agreement also calls for the city to attempt to establish curbside pickup and recycling of plastic bags by the end of 2006. City officials say the city's trash collection contractor, Norcal Waste Systems, isn't equipped to recycle the bags.
Members of the mayor's staff credit the Department of the Environment -- which pushed to create a 17-cent bag tax -- with getting supermarket chains to agree to the deal. The agreement will preclude the city from pursuing such a tax until the deal expires next year. The companies also will pay $100,000 toward a campaign to make San Franciscans aware of the conservation and recycling program.
Karl Schroeder, president of Safeway's Northern California Division, said company employees would be retrained to use fewer bags when packing groceries. He said Safeway stores in the city also would sell reusable canvas bags to customers -- at cost.
Newsom and industry executives hailed the agreement, but Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi voiced concern; he had led the effort to apply a bag tax in San Francisco that would be paid by grocery stores, not shoppers.
Mirkarimi was invited to attend the press conference in the mayor's office and actually kept Newsom -- habitually late to events -- waiting briefly with reporters. When asked for his comments, the supervisor didn't hesitate to critique the agreement.
"I have faith that this is a good half-step, but I am cautious," Mirkarimi said. The supervisor noted that the grocery and plastics industries had spent thousand of dollars campaigning against the idea of a bag tax even before any legislation relating to it had been introduced.
Newsom stepped back to the microphone to rebut Mirkarimi's characterization. "I think it's more than a half-step," he said, adding: "I'm a pragmatist."
The mayor's deal doesn't cover smaller grocery stores or drugstores such as Walgreen's, which use a large number of plastic bags. City officials hope that if the plan, which Newsom described as a pilot program, catches on, other retailers will feel pressure to participate.
Earlier this year, a proposal to charge a 17-cent bag tax, which probably would have been passed on to consumers, appeared to have little political support on the Board of Supervisors. But an aide to the mayor said a tax of a few cents per bag is still possible if the new plan falls short next year.
"The prospect of that debate resurfacing exists," Newsom conceded. ----------------------------------------------------
Deal in the bag
Terms of an agreement with large supermarkets to reduce the number of plastic shopping bags used in San Francisco:
Reduction: The city has set a goal of reducing by 10 million the number of checkout bags dispensed by supermarkets by Dec. 31, 2006.
Count: The city's Department of the Environment will be allowed to count the bags given to shoppers -- collecting information the stores previously have refused to disclose.
Recycling: Supermarkets will examine their in-store bag recycling programs.
Collection: San Francisco will take steps to establish curbside pickup and recycling of plastic bags.
E-mail Charlie Goodyear at cgoodyear@sfchronicle.com.
SAN FRANCISCO / Bagging public reactions / Grocery customers talk about carrying on after the change
Patricia Yollin
Chronicle Staff Writer
4 November 2005
The San Francisco Chronicle
Usually when Alex Moses shops for groceries, she brings canvas bags, string bags and paper bags with her. But when she left a supermarket Thursday afternoon, her cart had nothing but plastic bags in it. Five of them.
"I'm feeling guilty," said the Russian Hill artist. "I didn't bring my bags today."
She'd planned to buy only one item at the Marina Safeway. But many things were on sale, and they were hard to resist.
The day after San Francisco and some of its biggest supermarket chains agreed to cut the number of plastic grocery bags that are handed out -- the goal is 10 million fewer by the end of 2006 -- shoppers assessed the politics and realities of plastic.
On one hand, nobody liked the idea of overflowing landfills and dead marine life. On the other hand, there are practical matters to consider: what to do with dog excrement, where to put wet bathing suits, that sort of thing.
"I use it for a poop bag," said dog owner Joel Ambouillit, a 46- year-old limousine driver who lives in the Richmond District. "I prefer it -- absolutely. It's a little more poop tight."
He leaned against a rail outside Mollie Stone's in Pacific Heights as his 4-year-old West Highland terrier, Junior, darted back and forth.
"What I don't like here is the double-bag concept," said the French-born Ambouillit. "This I don't really understand. It's a very waste-oriented country."
Store manager David Parrisher said shoppers demand double bags because they're often on foot.
"All you need is one time for the bag to give way," said Parrisher, who was placing signs near cash registers and on the front door letting customers know that their lives were about to change.
"In order to conform with San Francisco's new supermarket bagging policies, as of Monday Nov. 7, we will be unable to offer double bags," the signs said.
Toronto transplant Jamie Kim, 28, had only been living in San Francisco for a day, but she liked the idea of its bag re-education drive.
"I think it's really important for the government to get involved on this daily level of people's lives," said Kim, project manager for a Web advertising firm. "If it's citywide, people will react as a community. People shy away from being titled as a 'green person," but if it's something we have to do, it's different."
She admitted, however, that she generally gets plastic bags.
"It's not very proactive of me," she said.
She ran out of them while she was moving.
"You have to get creative," Kim said. "When you have a plastic bag, you can throw away just about anything. This will force people to think about their waste in a new way."
Store manager Parrisher said Mollie Stone's would sell canvas bags at cost. Markets all over town will reassess their in-store recycling efforts, promote reusable bags and pay for a $100,000 campaign to let people know about the conservation and recycling program.
Marina Safeway shopper Loretta Sonier, visiting from Los Angeles, said the suitcase in her trunk was full of plastic sacks, and she wasn't ready for a bag-less future.
"I hope they don't stop," said Sonier, a government worker in town to celebrate her 49th birthday. "I wrapped my hair products in them -- things that could unscrew and spill."
Her friend, 48-year-old bus operator Glenda Harris, was equally dismayed by San Francisco's stab at environmental enlightenment. Among other things, she uses plastic bags to store mail that's destined to be shredded.
"They're my heroes," Harris declared.
By contrast, Liz Sutherland-Riney of Russian Hill said the only thing she does with plastic bags is recycle them.
"I don't want them to go into the dump," said the 62-year-old retired teacher, as she stuffed a bunch into the recycling bin in front of the Marina Safeway.
"The bin is one of the reasons I shop here," Sutherland-Riney said.
Lifelong North Beach resident Garry Verducci, 50, also recycles most of his bags at the bin.
"I used to use them for garbage bags," said the retired firefighter. "But now I have a bigger garbage can."
Helen Neil, a 28-year-old primary teacher from Cornwall, England, said American bags seemed flimsy compared to their English counterparts.
"You re-use them over and over," Neil said. "They're much thicker."
Over at Cala Foods on Nob Hill, neighborhood resident Michael Hughes said he'd just have to adapt.
"They give me plastic, and I take it," said the 30-year-old law student. "I use them as trash bags when I'm done. But if they encourage us to use canvas bags, I'll do it."
E-mail Patricia Yollin at pyollin@sfchronicle.com.
PHOTO (3); Caption: (1) David Parrisher, Mollie Stone's manager, puts up a sign reminding customers of the city's deal with the chains., (2) Safeway; she got caught up in a sales day and left the store feeling guilty about the plastic bags., (3) Loretta Sonier, visiting from Los Angeles, said the suitcase in her trunk was full of plastic sacks. "I wrapped my hair products in them -- things that could unscrew and spill," she said. / Photos by Paul Chinn / The Chronicle
Charlie Goodyear
3 November 2005
The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco officials have struck an ambitious deal with large supermarket chains to reduce by 10 million the number of plastic grocery bags given to shoppers by the end of next year.
The agreement comes after political support for a proposed 17- cent tax on grocery bags in San Francisco -- which would have been a first for any American city -- failed to materialize earlier this year.
The deal, to be honored by Albertson's, Andronico's, Bell Markets, CalMart, Cala Foods, Foods Co., Mollie Stone's and Safeway stores at 54 locations, will permit the city's Department of the Environment to count bags handed out to shoppers -- usually a closely held business secret for supermarkets. The stores also have agreed to examine their in-store recycling efforts and promotion of reusable bags to help reach the city's reduction goal.
"We do, in my perspective, have a problem," said Mayor Gavin Newsom at a City Hall press conference with supermarket executives. "There is an environmental impact of bags. This will be the first city in America to establish these types of goals."
The exact number of grocery bags dispensed in the city each year is unknown, but estimates range from 50 million to 150 million. A majority are plastic, and they are blamed for clogging landfills, jamming recycling machines and killing marine life.
"I think 10 million bags is significant," said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the city's Department of the Environment. "It amounts to 95 tons that doesn't end up in landfills."
The agreement also calls for the city to attempt to establish curbside pickup and recycling of plastic bags by the end of 2006. City officials say the city's trash collection contractor, Norcal Waste Systems, isn't equipped to recycle the bags.
Members of the mayor's staff credit the Department of the Environment -- which pushed to create a 17-cent bag tax -- with getting supermarket chains to agree to the deal. The agreement will preclude the city from pursuing such a tax until the deal expires next year. The companies also will pay $100,000 toward a campaign to make San Franciscans aware of the conservation and recycling program.
Karl Schroeder, president of Safeway's Northern California Division, said company employees would be retrained to use fewer bags when packing groceries. He said Safeway stores in the city also would sell reusable canvas bags to customers -- at cost.
Newsom and industry executives hailed the agreement, but Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi voiced concern; he had led the effort to apply a bag tax in San Francisco that would be paid by grocery stores, not shoppers.
Mirkarimi was invited to attend the press conference in the mayor's office and actually kept Newsom -- habitually late to events -- waiting briefly with reporters. When asked for his comments, the supervisor didn't hesitate to critique the agreement.
"I have faith that this is a good half-step, but I am cautious," Mirkarimi said. The supervisor noted that the grocery and plastics industries had spent thousand of dollars campaigning against the idea of a bag tax even before any legislation relating to it had been introduced.
Newsom stepped back to the microphone to rebut Mirkarimi's characterization. "I think it's more than a half-step," he said, adding: "I'm a pragmatist."
The mayor's deal doesn't cover smaller grocery stores or drugstores such as Walgreen's, which use a large number of plastic bags. City officials hope that if the plan, which Newsom described as a pilot program, catches on, other retailers will feel pressure to participate.
Earlier this year, a proposal to charge a 17-cent bag tax, which probably would have been passed on to consumers, appeared to have little political support on the Board of Supervisors. But an aide to the mayor said a tax of a few cents per bag is still possible if the new plan falls short next year.
"The prospect of that debate resurfacing exists," Newsom conceded. ----------------------------------------------------
Deal in the bag
Terms of an agreement with large supermarkets to reduce the number of plastic shopping bags used in San Francisco:
Reduction: The city has set a goal of reducing by 10 million the number of checkout bags dispensed by supermarkets by Dec. 31, 2006.
Count: The city's Department of the Environment will be allowed to count the bags given to shoppers -- collecting information the stores previously have refused to disclose.
Recycling: Supermarkets will examine their in-store bag recycling programs.
Collection: San Francisco will take steps to establish curbside pickup and recycling of plastic bags.
E-mail Charlie Goodyear at cgoodyear@sfchronicle.com.
SAN FRANCISCO / Bagging public reactions / Grocery customers talk about carrying on after the change
Patricia Yollin
Chronicle Staff Writer
4 November 2005
The San Francisco Chronicle
Usually when Alex Moses shops for groceries, she brings canvas bags, string bags and paper bags with her. But when she left a supermarket Thursday afternoon, her cart had nothing but plastic bags in it. Five of them.
"I'm feeling guilty," said the Russian Hill artist. "I didn't bring my bags today."
She'd planned to buy only one item at the Marina Safeway. But many things were on sale, and they were hard to resist.
The day after San Francisco and some of its biggest supermarket chains agreed to cut the number of plastic grocery bags that are handed out -- the goal is 10 million fewer by the end of 2006 -- shoppers assessed the politics and realities of plastic.
On one hand, nobody liked the idea of overflowing landfills and dead marine life. On the other hand, there are practical matters to consider: what to do with dog excrement, where to put wet bathing suits, that sort of thing.
"I use it for a poop bag," said dog owner Joel Ambouillit, a 46- year-old limousine driver who lives in the Richmond District. "I prefer it -- absolutely. It's a little more poop tight."
He leaned against a rail outside Mollie Stone's in Pacific Heights as his 4-year-old West Highland terrier, Junior, darted back and forth.
"What I don't like here is the double-bag concept," said the French-born Ambouillit. "This I don't really understand. It's a very waste-oriented country."
Store manager David Parrisher said shoppers demand double bags because they're often on foot.
"All you need is one time for the bag to give way," said Parrisher, who was placing signs near cash registers and on the front door letting customers know that their lives were about to change.
"In order to conform with San Francisco's new supermarket bagging policies, as of Monday Nov. 7, we will be unable to offer double bags," the signs said.
Toronto transplant Jamie Kim, 28, had only been living in San Francisco for a day, but she liked the idea of its bag re-education drive.
"I think it's really important for the government to get involved on this daily level of people's lives," said Kim, project manager for a Web advertising firm. "If it's citywide, people will react as a community. People shy away from being titled as a 'green person," but if it's something we have to do, it's different."
She admitted, however, that she generally gets plastic bags.
"It's not very proactive of me," she said.
She ran out of them while she was moving.
"You have to get creative," Kim said. "When you have a plastic bag, you can throw away just about anything. This will force people to think about their waste in a new way."
Store manager Parrisher said Mollie Stone's would sell canvas bags at cost. Markets all over town will reassess their in-store recycling efforts, promote reusable bags and pay for a $100,000 campaign to let people know about the conservation and recycling program.
Marina Safeway shopper Loretta Sonier, visiting from Los Angeles, said the suitcase in her trunk was full of plastic sacks, and she wasn't ready for a bag-less future.
"I hope they don't stop," said Sonier, a government worker in town to celebrate her 49th birthday. "I wrapped my hair products in them -- things that could unscrew and spill."
Her friend, 48-year-old bus operator Glenda Harris, was equally dismayed by San Francisco's stab at environmental enlightenment. Among other things, she uses plastic bags to store mail that's destined to be shredded.
"They're my heroes," Harris declared.
By contrast, Liz Sutherland-Riney of Russian Hill said the only thing she does with plastic bags is recycle them.
"I don't want them to go into the dump," said the 62-year-old retired teacher, as she stuffed a bunch into the recycling bin in front of the Marina Safeway.
"The bin is one of the reasons I shop here," Sutherland-Riney said.
Lifelong North Beach resident Garry Verducci, 50, also recycles most of his bags at the bin.
"I used to use them for garbage bags," said the retired firefighter. "But now I have a bigger garbage can."
Helen Neil, a 28-year-old primary teacher from Cornwall, England, said American bags seemed flimsy compared to their English counterparts.
"You re-use them over and over," Neil said. "They're much thicker."
Over at Cala Foods on Nob Hill, neighborhood resident Michael Hughes said he'd just have to adapt.
"They give me plastic, and I take it," said the 30-year-old law student. "I use them as trash bags when I'm done. But if they encourage us to use canvas bags, I'll do it."
E-mail Patricia Yollin at pyollin@sfchronicle.com.
PHOTO (3); Caption: (1) David Parrisher, Mollie Stone's manager, puts up a sign reminding customers of the city's deal with the chains., (2) Safeway; she got caught up in a sales day and left the store feeling guilty about the plastic bags., (3) Loretta Sonier, visiting from Los Angeles, said the suitcase in her trunk was full of plastic sacks. "I wrapped my hair products in them -- things that could unscrew and spill," she said. / Photos by Paul Chinn / The Chronicle
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Date: 2005-11-07 03:56 pm (UTC)Also, at least here, the bags are getting so small that they're almost not-useful. Bah.