Tag: plastic bags

What You Need to Know About the Plastic Bag Ban

Today's blog post was contributed by one of our Education Specialists, Becca. — *Today’s blog post was contributed by one of our Education Specialists, Becca.*

California recently passed Proposition 67 to ban plastic bags in our state. Most of us are probably wondering exactly how it will impact us. Having lived in Monterey when it banned plastic bags, I know it can be a process to understand the details to be prepared when the ban goes into effect. Here are a few answers to the most common questions we get.

What is the Plastic Bag Ban?
The plastic bag ban prohibits grocery stores, pharmacies, corner market stores and liquor stores from selling single use plastic bags. Instead, they will sell paper and reusable plastic bags for 10 cents each. Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable bags and won’t be charged a fee when they do.

What were some reasons for passing this ban?

Protecting wildlife. Many marine animals confuse plastic bags for food. For instance, sea turtles confuse plastic bags for one of their main food sources, jellyfish.
Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Plastic goes through a process known as photodegradation. Photo means light and as sunlight shines on plastics they become more and more brittle and break down into microplastics. These microplastics can hurt wildlife and humans alike as they travel up the food chain.
Plastic bags never fully breakdown. This means less space in landfills for other waste items, as well as disruption of marine and terrestrial food chains by the presence of plastic bags.
Less than 5% of plastic bags are recycled in California.
In 2050, plastic will outweigh fish in the ocean.

When will the bag ban officially start?
December 9, 2016. If you go into a store that isn’t compliant after 12/9/16, call your city public works department to report them.

What happens if you forget your reusable bag?
You will be charged 10 cents for a paper bag or reusable plastic bag. To avoid this, bring your own reusable bags or carry items out of the store without any bagging. Always keep a few reusable bags with you to be prepared for shopping trips.

What about other plastic bags?
The bag ban only prohibits carryout plastic bags at grocery stores, pharmacies, corner market stores and liquor stores. All other plastic bags, like pet waste bags and trash bags, will still be available for purchase. If you’re inspired by the reasons behind the bag ban and wish to discontinue the use of plastic bags in other areas of your life, here are some ideas:

Pet waste bags. Picking up after your pup can be easy and zero waste! Simply purchase a small grabber and pick up your dog waste and place it immediately in a trash bin or flush it down the toilet. This method avoids bags altogether. If you need to use a bag, purchase a biodegradable bag or use a newspaper as a first option. If you desire to continue using plastic bags, reuse old bread, produce, cereal or newspaper bags. Cat lovers: we can help out your feline friends as well! For your litter box, introduce organic litter alternatives such as sawdust, mulch, or dirt. Slowly integrate these alternatives within the litter so the cats have time to adjust to the new litter. An alternative to fragrances that cover the smell is baking soda. If you prefer litter over the alternatives, purchase litter in bulk or in compostable packaging. To dispose of the cat waste, there are a few options. First, you can compost the waste in a cat waste specific compost bin and use the compost for ornamental plants. Learn more about how to do that here. If you don’t have enough space for your own compost, check to see if your local community compost collects animal waste. While you can flush dog poop, do not flush cat poop. Cats have a parasite in their feces that is not safe for humans or marine life.
Trash bags. Extend the life of your plastic trash bags by dumping out the trash in your trash can and reusing the bag. If you want to get rid of plastic all together, place newspaper or scratch paper at the bottom of the trash to collect excess trash and rinse out the garbage container every so often. We like this tutorial for a DIY Newspaper Garbage Bag. Incorporating practices to reduce your waste will create less need for trash bags such as composting food scraps and eliminating plastic packaging.
Shopping bags at other stores. Many other stores will still be using plastic bags at check out. Consider bringing your own reusable bag to clothing stores, pet stores and other retails stores to eliminate plastic bags.

I want to adopt a zero waste lifestyle. Where can I find some resources to begin my journey?
I Love A Clean San Diego’s Zero Waste 101: Home workshop will be taking place this Saturday from 1-3pm at South Chula Vista Library. It’s a great starting point to learn a few tips to begin a zero waste lifestyle at home! We welcome you to join us for this workshop and our upcoming series where we will explore how to adopt zero waste practices into your everyday life. We also offer our zero waste resource WasteFreeSD.org, where you can find more details regarding zero waste and how to enact different practices in your everyday life.To learn more about I Love A Clean San Diego and how we help protect our environment, please visit CleanSD.org!

Encinitas Bag Ban spurs more giveaways!

Today’s blog comes from our Director of Development and Marketing, Morgan, who has been working directly with the City of Encinitas to prepare shoppers for the second phase of the single-use bag ban. Read on to learn more about how I Love A Clean San Diego is working to make the this transition as seamless as possible!

Attention Encinitas Shoppers!

Starting October 10^th, the second and final phase of the Encinitas single-use plastic bag ban goes into effect. That means that department stores, clothing stores, hardware stores and even farmer’s markets will no longer be offering single-use plastic bags to shoppers.

In order to help ease shoppers into this new policy, I Love A Clean San Diego has partnered with the City of Encinitas to coordinate a series of bag giveaways to coincide with the Phase II implementation.

Come by the following stores and centers and get your free reusable bag to use for your next shopping trip! Remember, there are limited quantities, so act fast!

Sunday, October 4^th from 11AM – 1PM:

Encinitas Ranch Town Center – between PetSmart and Barnes and Noble, 1034 N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024
Encinitas Ranch Town Center – between Buy Buy Baby and Target, 1014 N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024
Home Depot, 1001 N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024
Leucadia Farmers Market – Paul Ecke Elementary School, 185 Union Street, Encinitas, CA 92024 (from 10AM – 1PM)

Wednesday, October 7th from 4 – 6PM:

Encinitas Farmers Market – 600 S. Vulcan Ave, Encinitas 92024

Our Admin Assistant, Brittany, sporting our bag monster costume fitted with 550 plastic bags, the estimated amount of plastic bags that each American will use in one year.

Fast Facts about Plastic Bags:

It is estimated that 31.9 million single-use carryout bags are distributed in the City of Encinitas each year.
Studies have shown the prevalence of single-use carryout bags are responsible for littering the environment, blocking storm drains and polluting beaches, oceans and the marine environment.
Single-use bags made from plastic do not decompose, therefore they exist in the environment forever.
Plastic bags are a significant source of marine debris and are hazardous to marine animals, such as turtles and birds, which often confuse plastic bags as a source of food and ingest these bags, causing reduced nutrient absorption and death.

Tips to Remember Your Reusable Bags:

Set your car keys on your bag.
Keep reusable bags in the trunk of your car and put a small note on the dashboard or your shopping list to remind you to grab them. Once you unload your groceries at home, put the bags back into the trunk immediately so you’ll have them for your next trip.
Purchase a few compact reusable bags and keep them in your purse, jacket pocket, backpack, or attach them to a keychain.
Ask your children, spouse or roomate to remind you to bring your bags.
Keep bags in multiple places, like at home, in the car, and at the office.
If you still manage to forget your reusable bags, you can always put everything back into your shopping cart after you pay and unload directly from the cart into your car. Then bag the items to carry in when you get home.

BYOB_6.18.15-twitter — Encinitas is BYOB – Bring Your Own Bag! Starting October 10th, the second phase of the bag ban will go into effect at local department stores. Be prepared – get your free bag at one of our bag blitz locations!

Do you have questions about the bag ban? Post them in the comments below!

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Brittany’s litter-free beach day guide

Today’s blog comes from our administrative assistant, Brittany! San Diego native, born and raised, Brittany it goes without saying that she loves our beaches and 4th of July. To get you jazzed for the long holiday weekend ahead, she has put together some of her favorite waste-free tips for a day at the beach!

Looking for something fun to do for the upcoming patriotic holiday? Why go anywhere else when you live in a city full of beautiful beaches! The 4^th of July has always been one of my favorite holiday’s to spend at any beach in San Diego. With so many people at our beaches, there is one thing that tends to be left behind and that’s trash. This 4^th of July, Clean Beach Coalition will have large trash and recycling bins located at Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay, and Pacific Beach to give every beachgoer a chance to continue to keep the beach sparkling clean! Last year alone, the CBC bins collected 96,860 lbs of trash and 2.8 MILLION pounds in the last 8 years. Pretty impressive, right? In order to prevent more trash from ending up on our beaches this holiday, I wanted to share some of my favorite things to pack in order to stay green while still rocking red, white, and blue!

CBC bins — Keep an eye out for our huge trash and recycling bins. They’ll be hard to miss so be sure to put them to good use!

The key to staying green is to pack up all your reusable items to prevent any trash! Here is my easy to follow step-by-step guide to a waste-free weekend!

For starters, instead of using a Styrofoam cooler, bring a more durable reusable cooler. Not only will it last you years, it prevents any Styrofoam pieces from ending up on our beaches and the Pacific Ocean where it will never biodegrade.
Plastic pieces are easily mistaken for food by marine animals causing serious health issues. Here are pieces mixed in with sea kelp recently found at a cleanup.
When packing up your goodies, try using reusable containers to transferring and reusable silverware! Here are a couple of my personal favorite snacks to bring to my Fourth of July beach festivities:

Fourth of July Rice Crispies Treats are a favorite of mine. Not only are they easy to make, but you can put them in a reusable container and be set to go! Check out the recipe here!

Fruit Kabobs! All you need are some wooden skewers, strawberries, bananas, and blueberries and you have an ecofriendly, patriotic snack!

plastic free treats — Fruit kabobs are the perfect plastic-free treat! Although the skewers will eventually go in the trash, wood will naturally biodegrade with time, unlike plastic.

3. Feeling thirsty? Fill up a reusable water bottle and bring it with you! Did you know American’s throw away 35 billion water bottles a year? It’s important to reduce bringing plastics to our beaches because once plastic enters the ocean, it is extremely difficult to clean up. Don’t have a reusable water bottle? Check out some of ILACSD’s reusable water bottles online!

patriotic water bottle — **Brittany always carries her reusable water bottle wherever she goes** whether it’s the beach, a park or work. Check out our merchandise to **get you own ILACSD gear to sport around town!**

4. Don’t have anything to pack up the rest of your goods? Use a tote bag! My favorite tote bag can be washed and reused over and over again. Do your best to not bring plastic bags to the beach, not only are they not recyclable but if blown into the ocean, marine mammals can accidentally mistake them for food.

Still not ready to end your beach time this weekend? Come show your patriotism in a new way with I Love A Clean San Diego on July 5^th for the Morning After Mess Cleanup. From 8-11am we will clean up the excess trash left behind on Mission Beach from the holiday celebrations. Plus, the first 400 volunteers will receive a free tee from REI!

Whether you decide to stay in San Diego this 4^th of July Weekend or travel elsewhere, please enjoy the scene, but keep it clean. Have a safe and wonderful 4^th of July!

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DITCHING DISPOSABLE PLASTIC – the bag edition

Since last fall, ILACSD has received a variety of questions about how plastic bag ban laws will impact the way we shop. For today’s blog, ILACSD’s Director of Development and Marketing, Morgan, will focus on Encinitas’s plastic bag ordinance and tackle some frequently asked questions. Read on to get the answers to your questions and learn about upcoming reusable bag giveaways!

As you may have heard, the California statewide plastic bag ban is now on hold until it can be put on the ballot for a statewide vote. While the battle rages on in the case of California vs. Big Plastic, there is also some news about a local plastic bag ban. You may have heard that back in October 2014, the Encinitas City Council voted to establish an ordinance limiting the usage of single-use plastic carry out bags at local stores. Well, the first phase of that ban is set to go into effect on April 10th. I Love A Clean San Diego is working hard to make sure that Encinitas residents and businesses are informed about the changes before they go into effect. If you live, work, or shop in Encinitas, you can turn to us to get all of your questions answered about how “Encinitas Municipal Code Section 11.26” will actually work.

Also, starting this weekend, ILACSD will conduct a series of bag giveaways at local grocery stores in the community. So keep an eye out on our Facebook and Twitter pages as we announce give-away dates, time and locations.

Here’s a rundown of some of our favorite FAQs:

Why is the City of Encinitas banning single-use plastic carryout bags? Well, plastic bags are extremely lightweight and can act like balloons blowing out of garbage trucks and landfills. These flyaway bags litter our communities, enter storm drains, and eventually end up in the ocean. Plastic is the most common type of litter found on local beaches. Marine life often become entangled in plastic bags and can mistake plastic particles for food, causing harm and sometimes death to the animals. New research suggests that this plastic is making its way up the food chain and is potentially affecting the seafood we eat.

An albatross that ingested multiple pieces of plastic. — Marine life often become entangled in plastic bags and can mistake plastic particles for food, causing harm and sometimes death to the animals.

I heard that I will have to pay 10 cents to use my own reusable bag. Is this true? NO! Customers will now have two choices at checkout: bring your own reusable bags to carry your groceries at no cost (some retailers even offer a rebate for each reusable bag you bring) OR purchase bags at checkout. You can buy reusable bags or paper bags for your groceries at a minimum cost of ten cents each. If you forget your reusable bags at home and don’t want to pay for bags, you always have the option of loading groceries back into your cart and putting them directly in your car without any bags.

What about using biodegradable bags? A “biodegradable” plastic bag is not a solution for litter issues associated with plastics. These bags can only break down under very specific conditions and do NOT break down naturally in our waterways, posing a threat to animal life. To fully degrade, these bags require heat and specific bacteria present in industrial composting facilities, and we don’t have any of those facilities in San Diego County.

Flush Puppies - alternatives to plastic bags — Check out other solutions to pet waste disposal in our blog “Scoop the Poop: Alternatives to Plastic Bags“.

I line my trash cans with plastic bags from the grocery store. Now what can I use? Trash can liners and large trash bags will still be available for purchase in stores. To cut back on waste, you can buy heavier-weight plastic bags and reuse them after emptying waste into your curbside bin. To cut out plastic bags altogether, line the bottom of your trash can with newspaper or other paper, and rinse it out periodically after use.

I use plastic grocery bags to pick up pet waste. What do I do now? There will still be many plastic bags in circulation. You can use bags from bread, produce, bulk products, or cereal, or purchase a roll of small pet waste bags. To avoid using plastic bags altogether, you can bring last week’s newspaper or a waste-scooping device on your walk and use it to pick up after your pet. Check out other solutions to pet waste disposal in our blog “Scoop the Poop: Alternatives to Plastic Bags”.

I’m worried about bacteria on reusable bags. Are they sanitary? Plastic produce bags will still be available for wrapping meat, poultry, and seafood. Consider carrying these raw meat items in a designated reusable bag each time, separate from fresh fruits and vegetables. To keep your reusable bags clean, just use common sense and everyday hygiene. Throw your cloth/fabric tote bags into the wash with your laundry load to clean them periodically. For thick plastic reusable bags, wipe them clean with a sponge dipped in warm, soapy water and allow them to air dry before storing. Find cleaning tips for your bags and other eco-friendly cleaning tips on our Pinterest board “Clean and Green”.

If you have other questions that are not listed here, please share them in the comments below!

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Plastic Bags. Are they recyclable?

Our Hotline Assistant Barbara Lopez breaks down plastic bag recycling.

Did you know that San Diego uses 500 million plastic bags every year? And what’s even more shocking…less than 3% of plastic bags are recycled in California. While there are lots of discussions regarding plastic bag bans and ordinances, until we can cut down on our plastic bag usage, let’s talk more about recycling them!

Some background about bans:

There has been much debate recently, both locally and at the state level, regarding plastic bag bans. At the state level, State Senator Alex Padilla is looking to reintroduce legislation that would keep grocery stores and pharmacies from providing customers with single-use plastic bags by July 1, 2015. If this legislation passes, it would make California the first state in the country to ban plastic bags. Locally, San Diego City Council is also looking to vote on a citywide single use plastic bag ordinance later this year. Supporters of such bills argue too many plastic bags end up as litter or take up space in landfills since few of them are recycled. Of the 14 billion plastic bags that Californians use per year, very few of those are actually recycled. Instead, they end up in landfills or as litter on the side of roads and on beaches! But that isn’t to say that there is no market out there for plastic bags.

The skinny on recycling plastic bags:

Many of you may already know that plastic bags do not belong in our curbside recycling. However, we are often asked why we can’t simply put plastic bags in our bins at home. The answer: recycling facilities are set up to separate rigid plastics from other recyclables- paper, aluminum cans, and glass. Current recycling machinery is just not set up to sort plastic bags and film; they would just get tangled in the equipment.

Although plastic bags cannot be placed in curbside recycling bins, they can be recycled. Many grocery stores collect plastic bags, usually placing bins near the front entrance of the store. In fact, many of these stores also take other types of plastic film, such as produce bags and plastic packaging film. Returned plastic bags are then sent to a recycling processor and are turned into different plastic products such as composite lumber, pallets, crates, and pipes.

If you need help finding a location to take your plastic bags, check out our handy recycling database, www.WasteFreeSD.org!

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