Anya Hindmarch Causes Plastic Bag Manufacturers to Freak Out

17
by Rebecca Carter July 25, 2007
Categories: Fashion.

I AM a Plastic Bag AND I’m 100% RecyclableMove over “I’m Not a Smug Twat” bag. Another Anya Hindmarch knock-off has come to town – it’s the “I AM a Plastic Bag AND I’m 100% Recyclable” bag.

It was created by the Progressive Bag Alliance, an organization dedicated to ensuring that plastic bags are recycled, reused, and disposed of properly. Oh, and it’s founded by all of the big plastic bag manufacturers. I’d add another line to their mission – to promote the use of plastic bags.

They are here to remind us that plastic bags can be reused and recycled – and that they are better than paper bags. In fact, they are serious about this bag – it’s for sale on eBay, complete with some myths & facts that the Alliance wants you to know.

I AM a Plastic Bag AND I’m 100% RecyclableWhat they don’t discuss is that reusable bags are WAY BETTER than any plastic bag. In the US alone, we go through 100 BILLION plastic bags a year. Let me say that again: 100,000,000,000 bags in just one year. They require petroleum, toxic chemicals, and tons of energy to make. Read more facts & why recycling is good – but not the best solution.

Great marketing campaign, PBA, but we’ll stick with our reusable bags. Congrats Anya, you’re makin’ em sweat.

Via – Reason

About Rebecca Carter

Rebecca Carter is the Co-Founder of Ecorazzi. Rebecca was recently featured in the book Hot, Rich, and Green. She is one of 70 eco-achievers featured in Glamour magazine in April 2009, named Best of Green 2010 by Miami Magazine and Best Environmentalist by Miami New Times Best of 2008. She's raising a couple of little boys in Miami and speaks English & Spanish. Find out more at www.RebeccaCarter.net. Follow Rebecca on Twitter: @rebeccacarter

View all posts by Rebecca Carter →
  • Sky

    “In the US alone, we go through 100 BILLION plastic bags a year. Let me say that again: 1,000,000,000 bags in just one year.”

    You first wrote 100 billion and then numerically put only 1 billion. Which is it?

  • http://www.ecorazzi.com rebecca

    Whoa. It’s 100 billion and I can’t believe how many zeros there are. Thanks for the correction!

  • Aelred

    Everyone knows that plastic bags are 100% recyclable, but for the most part Americans are too damn lazy to recycle and they end of putting them in the garbage because they just do not care because they can get more plastic bags from another store just to throw away. We make recycling extremely easy for Americans and still, they seem to refuse to participate. Now, I know there are many who do and I applaud their efforts.

    I really could care less about the plastic bags as I am about having one person in one car or SUV driving. Gas prices should be so expensive as to discourage driving and more dependence on public transportation. The last thing I want to see if another person driving an SUV by themselves while chatting away on their cell phones.

    Americans have it too easy and have a perverted sense of entitlement.

  • Paul Sepp

    Plastic bags manufacture requires many toxic chemicals and recycling a plastic bag requires lots of energy and more chemicals. It is a nasty process so much though that many recycling companies refuse to accept plastic bags. Paper bags and reusable bags are a much better choice. Plus plastic bags are tacky and kill small children.

  • Geraldine Bryant

    New Yorkers are not lazy. The City doesn’t include them in recyclable items, so in fact they are not rercyclable here. You can actually get fined if you throw them into recycle. And it costs money for the City to recycle them, so it’s not gonna happen soon. Better bring your own (cloth) with you.

    Sorry, Progressive (HA!) Bag Alliance.

  • http://www.toddcameronbrown.com Todd Cameron Brown

    When I contacted a company in Santa Monica about purchasing reusable grocery bags along with my requirements for the bags, their high and mighty reply was, “It doesn’t pay to make two bags with short handles and no advertising.” So, until I am allowed to purchase the bags I want, it’s plastic for me.

  • http://www.mmmfiles.com/mmm Tapia

    What a lot of people seem to be unaware of is the existence of biodegradable plastic bags, which tend to be corn-oil based. With rising petrol costs, these are fast becoming price-competitive.

    Anyone interested should key word “biodegrable plastic.” You’d be amazed how much is out there.

  • Nancy

    WHERE can I bring my plastic bags to be recycled? I’ve never seen a recycling drop for plastic bags.

  • http://Travelingshoesblog.blogspot.com Gypsy Girl

    Kudos for Aelred!! My sentiments exactly. We are so lazy in this country. There are many other countries where you either bring your own bags or you pay for plastic bags. Most people bring their own. Just a simple thing like asking for paper instead of plastic is HUGE help. I went to Wild Oats yesterday and got paid a nickle because I brought my own bags. But in the regular supermarkets, I get weird looks from the bag boys when I say I have my own bags.
    KEEP THIG BAG THIBG ALIVE…see where we can go with it.
    I also agree about the SUV’s especially the cellphone users, but that is a whole other issue to work on. I personally drive a foreign car that gets high gas mileage. if we all bought foreign.

  • Jo-Ann

    Connecticut does not allow its citizens to use their recycle bins. If you put the plastic bags in the bins for roadside pick-up, they will not take any of your recycled items. Aelred should speak to issues where he has more knowledge.

  • http:///www.myrecycledbags.com Cindy

    I love to recycle plastic bags into reusable plastic totes, purses, and other bags. If there are any crafters out there check out my site for patterns. All my patterns are free for personal use.

    Cindy
    http://www.myrecycledbags.com
    A website dedicated to recycling & crafting

  • Domenick

    Don’t grocery stores around the country have places to bring your plastic bags to be recycled? Publix does. According to their website they recycled 7600 tons of plastic in 2006. Not to mention 209,000 tons of cardboard.
    Maybe other stores need to legislation to act responsibly.

  • http://www.recyclingsupermarket.com/ Nick

    There are plenty of ways to reuse and recycled plastic carrier bags. I have written an article about it in my blog:

    http://www.recyclingsupermarket.com/household-waste/plastic-carrier-bags-tips-to-reuse-and-recycle/

  • Chris

    I’ve seen plastic grocery bag recycling bins at the front of all the grocery stores around here, and every Wal-Mart (and I think Target). Take a look or ask next time you go. They don’t go in curbside. Also, I’m thinking of writing a note to my town’s grocery stores encouraging them to provide a small discount when people use their own bags.

  • http://arvmehta.blogspot.com arv

    One of the comments mentioned biodegradable corn oil based bags . My answer to that is unless one composts these bags they are going to go the same way as plastic bags , into the landfill and it is a well known fact that even organic matter doesn’t degrade in landfills . So the next time you buy biodegradable plastic plates/cups for the kid’s birthday party think before you pat yourself on the back , you didn’t do much till you composted it . And I would stick to my multiple use bag .

  • http://www.sustainablehome.com Kirsten

    OK, here is the deal with recycling plastic bags, which I am sure your local recycling coordinator would be happy to explain. (When you have a question about what is recycling, Please call them. They slave away trying to divert recyclable items from the waste stream and they know alot about YOUR local system.)

    Most plastics are separated by mumber then shredded/chipped for shipping. The teeth in the machine that performs this process can be jammed by plastic bags. The bags get wrapped around the mechanism, and the recycling process stops until it can be manually cleared.

    So, yes, they are fully recyclable, but not in the same bin as your containers/bottles. In my area there are bins in front of all the grocery stores.

    As an aside, I often visit Ireland, which started charging for plastic bags a long time ago. On previous trips I had seen bags blowing along streets, caught in hedgerows, on the beach. After the 5p charge started that was completely and absolutely eliminated.

    Did you know that 50% of the solids in Sea water, by weight are plastic fragments. Half of what a sperm whale filters out of the water and tried to digest is indigestable plastic. Stick with your reusable bags!

  • http://HealthyHighways.com David Goldbeck

    What has been lost in the environmental movement is that recycling is the THIRD activity in the Reduce-Reuse-Recycling formulation. Moreover, they are a hierarchy. As in all things, you reduce (use less bags), reuse (use your own bag) and recycle (when the bag is useless.)

    David Goldbeck
    co-author, Choose to Reuse
    Founder and President
    Reuse Opportunities, Inc.
    A 501c3 not for profit corporation
    PO Box 87
    Woodstock, NY 12498

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