Blogs & Ecology

photo: d.billy

The latest in a series of environmental initiatives undertaken by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg takes on plastic bags. Already the city requires that pretty much any store which gives customers plastic shopping bags also accept them back to be recycled. The Mayor’s most recent plan would go one step further and require stores to charge 6 cents per plastic bag used (the city would get 5 cents of that, with a penny going to the store). Here are some more details, such as there are, on the Mayor’s plan:
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photo: The Green School

Read more: An innovative new sustainable school opens in Bali. Students from all over the globe learn the latest in green living while living in paradise....

(Photo: s2art.) The government of Buenos Aires province (a territory separate from Buenos Aires city but accounting for about 37% of the country population) has approved a law to ban shops and supermarkets to give polyethylene plastic bags in its territory.

There are quite a collection of cloth bags hanging in my kitchen closet - some washed so many times in the last half-dozen years the different advertising images are faded and barely legible. So perhaps it's not surprising that the bins full of designy shopping bags (mostly from Envirosax) at the Dansk Design Center store were a lot like colorful candy to me on the day I visited.

Reusable bags - how much would you pay?

Really it's a bit hard to keep getting excited about the idea of another shoulder bag or cosmetics case made from recycled PET plastic bottles - though the first TreeHugger reviews of Patagonia rPET goods were basically gushing, and for good reason. Anything rPET is better than anything virgin polyester.

rPET is the new polyester

Image source: Marketing Week (subscription required).

Cath Kidston, known for her bright, funky textile patterns, recently launched an eco-bag collection, available in 6 fun patterns only at Tesco stores around the UK. The bags are all made from 100% recycled PET and 100% of the proceeds from their sale go to the Marie Curie Cancer Care. A minimum of £250,000 will be donated, which will fund 12,500 hours of nursing care for terminally-ill patients and their families.

Image credit: Coffeeshopdays.com

Victor Koen in New York Times

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Beer drinkers beware. TalkGreen reminds us that not all eco-friendly beers are created equal.

Rising fuel prices and new emissions standards have the airline industry greening up its act.

Ford Motors scrambles to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

The Green Routine cracks a common plastic bag myth.

Does Panasonic hold the key to the e-waste solution?

Better late than never, I suppose -- though LA's planned 2010 citywide ban still seems downright meek given that San Francisco, Australia and, yes, even China have already or are in the process of implementing a ban. And, of course, it's important to note that this plan will only go through if (and it's a big if) the state fail...

Air Bear, Garbage Bag Sculpture by Joshua Allen Harris

"Look, it's art!" exclaims a passer-by as the plastic garbage bags tossed in a pile on a New York Subway grate come to life.

Artist Joshua Allen Harris invites the viewer into a world where life and death cycles in time with the public transport system. TreeHugger meditation for a Saturday afternoon: what do you think about when you watch waste come to life, garbage art imitating n...

photo by greenhem via flickr

Paper or plastic bags: which is better?
It's an age old question, when it comes time to check out when grocery shopping: paper bag or plastic bag? It seems like it should be an easy choice, but there's an incredible number of details and inputs hidden in each bag. From durability and reusability to life cycle costs, there's a lot more to each bag than meet the eye. Let's take a look behind the bags.

Where do brown paper bags come from?

This past Thursday, before the madness of the 4th of July set in, the City of El Segundo, California held its first ever Environmental Expo. Summer was in full swing as people shopped for organic corn and grass fed beef to grill, and for green bikinis to wear, over the holiday (And you know you are in Southern California, when there is a booth at an environmental expo with green bikinis.)
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photo by Ethnocentrics via flickr

It may be have only been in place for a month so far, but initial reports by the Worldwatch Institute show that China’s ban on free plastic bags is having a definite impact.

In Guangzou City the use of plastic bags in supermarkets has been cut in half, while in some supermarkets in Beijing use of plastic bags has dropped by 90 percent.
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