CustomEarthPromos - Eco Blog US

Each time you go shopping, the pile of plastic bags stored under the sink just continues to grow and you may just wonder as to how you'll get rid of them. But if you are a New Yorker having the same issue, then you needn't worry as the City Council recently passed a bill asking all large chains and retail stores to collect plastic bags given to shoppers and recycle them. Ever since this bill was passed, New York has been considered to be the largest American city to take such a vast measure in order to limit the impact of these bags on the environment. Almost 86 billion plastic bags are used by the entire country every year, which ends up as wastes polluting the city streets, in landfills or in oceans. Apart from being a lethal threat to wildlife and sea creatures, these plastic bags tend to remain for a really long time in the environment as they are non-biodegradable. Recycling Plastic Bags: Source of Anxiety Almost one billion plastic bags are used by New Yorkers each year and they are considered to be an environmental anxiety. Since plastic bags are proving to be such a big source of environmental destruction, recycling has become a very important factor in the lives of New Yorkers. Plastic bag manufacturers and retailers are completely supporting the bill, and stores are even providing residents with recycling bins to put the bags in them. The bill is applicable to stores, which are 5000 square feet or larger. Instead of providing shoppers with plastic bags, the retail stores are offering other bag alternatives as well. Wholesale Reusable Bags Are the Viable Option Since Recycling Shoppers are being offered reusable seed paper bags and reusable totes as alternatives for plastic bags. Since the recycling bins are placed at every store corner, the shoppers can deposit their plastic shopping bags in them for recycling. These bags can include even dry-cleaning bags with extendable plastic or cardboard bottomed plastic covers. Shoppers can visit any store to put in the plastic bags fir recycling. The bins are later picked up by the Department of Sanitation, along with the other recyclable materials such as newspapers, bottles and cans. Once they are collected, they are either recycled into new plastic bags or made into other plastic materials, such as weatherproof decking. Source

An introductory proposal was submitted to the policy makers at a Santa Fe community meeting to ban all the retail stores from offering plastic bags as carry-outs. The proposal received quite a few mixed reviews from the advisory committee members of the city, which suggested that the bag ban issue is far from being done. Since the preliminary proposal didn't lead to a satisfactory response, the policy makers have decided to conduct another community meeting along with the Chamber of Commerce member of Santa Fe. By arranging this meeting, inputs about how the ban could affect the environment and the businesses can be gathered. The Santa Fe 2008 Plan The City Council had proposed a plan in 2008 to ensue that the retailers would charge their customers for every plastic bag. Even though the plan may have worked, the councilors backed away and instead voted to start an educational program. According to the vote, city staff decided to include a program in school curriculums that would educate the children to stop using single-use plastic bags and other items. The new proposal made at the community meeting is considered to be one way of bringing back or implementing that 2008 resolution. Wholesale Reusable Bags Are the Alternative Choice in Santa Fe All the members of the Department of Economic Development along with the members if the Business and Quality of Life, are now working on another draft proposal. According to this proposal, the usage of disposable plastic covers and bags needs to be banned at retail stores and instead, introduce seed paper and reusable bags. The stores could also charge a fee for each paper bag sold according to the proposal. It should be made mandatory for all the retail stores to sell or offer the reusable bags and covers, according to this draft. As an exception, meat and other produce can be packaged in plastic covers or bags. It is considered to be a growing initiative for the entire environmental community. While other cities and communities in Los Angeles, Texas, California and Washington have already imposed the ban, Santa Fe had very few officials backing the proposal. One of the committee members even said that when he conducted a survey at a number of small retail stores, he found that the owners were already encouraging the shoppers to carry their own bags, which meant that the ban wasn't entirely necessary. Source

It is found that the waters surrounding USA have lots of plastic bags, bottles, Styrofoam packaging and pails. The flowing currents and shores are filled with decomposing debris and plastic pollutants that tend to get entangled in the roots and beach areas along the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Since the plastic has caused alarming levels of pollution and wildlife deaths, the marine sanctuary is slowly being destroyed and giving rise to more and more decaying carcasses. Many of the US states have started banning plastic bags and the citizens are saying no to plastic usage. Instead, they are using wholesale reusable bags and reusable totes as alternative options for shopping and other domestic storage purposes.  Eco friendly reusable bottles also help lower the amount of plastic bottles littered in public places. Experimenting with Plastic Bags In the mid-1800s plastic started being experimented with and soon came to be used frequently only in the 20th century. It is a man-made bane, which is made up very long repeated links of carbon along with sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen. It was and somehow still is considered to be a miracle material that can take multiple shapes and is considered to last forever. Reduce Plastic Bags Usage by Switching to Seed Paper and Reusable Materials First step to reduce the increasing amounts of plastic wastes is by reducing its usage. The step is already in motion as more and more number of people are saying no to plastics as the days pass. Reusable containers, paper totes and cloth bags are the popular alternatives that are being chosen. Despite all these measure, plastics are still ending up in the oceans and landfills. Plastics are even being incinerated while being disposed, which leads to harmful toxins being released into the atmosphere. Cleaning up the Garbage Patch Without Plastic Bags Whilst the Great Pacific Garbage Patch continues to accumulate more plastic, people are starting to take the initiative to help clean it up, in 2009, a bunch of waste managers and scientists visited the vast Patch to see what techniques they could develop to help clean it. It was found that the large pieces of plastic wastes can be easily collected from the patch and recycled to an extent. Smaller pieces of plastic however, proved more difficult to be collected. Collecting all this garbage is a good move but the next question is how to dispose it all off? Apart from landfills, pyrolysis is the other suggested option. Even though it is quite an expensive procedure it can help turn the waste into fuel. It is left to the authorities to decide what other methods can be used to clean up the waste as people have started realizing the perils of plastic. Source

Industrial sludge and PCBs among other toxic wastes are produced in regions that have heavy-duty landfills have the potential to be lucrative and handy for landfill operators. However, county and state regulators are finding it hard to set the bar as the garbage that is buried at the Clean Harbors Deer Trail landfill is growing increasingly hazardous. The landfill is one of America's best-designed facilities. Waste is being in generated in relatively low quantities lately due to the use of wholesale reusable bags – a bill that is expected to be passed in the near future. Nearly 20% of the buried material is radioactive today, at Adams County's southeast corner, company officials revealed. Clean Harbors has been prohibited by county authorities from accepting this kind of waste. The Department of Public Health and Environment in Colorado, however, has shown the green light to Clean Harbors to accept such waste from any part of the country, and this includes “pipe scale” from the gas and oil boom, and mining. . How the Radioactive Waste Bill Will Affect the Region A 68-year old from the region, Pam Whelden says that it comes as a surprise to the community. Yet farmers and ranchers in the region usually do not object, as the past twenty years have seen ten to thirty trucks hauled in each day, burying over a million and a quarter cubic yards of garbage. The facility is located about 71 miles from Denver's east and sits on a nine sq. mile prairie patch. It is also surrounded and guarded by a barbed-wire fence. Using Wholesale Reusable Bags Will Reduce the Radioactive Waste  Generation Businesses and residents around the region of the Rocky Mountains will benefit from this according to Jack Kehoe, the manager of the landfill. He says that litigation happens for years and the waste just gets accumulated if there is no landfill. Kehoe believes that citizens will be better off by having the facility here, as it also brings down the environmental costs. The problem with running landfills is that it requires hunting on a regular basis for newer sources of garbage. Clean Harbors were led to radioactive waste of a low level due to this problem. People are advised against the use of wholesale reusable bags as they go not generate waste that is essential in these areas. A waste-management consultant and the president of Envirobiz, Cary Perket said that the United States has been “de-industrialized” by the decline in manufacturing. He also said that there has been a fall in the traditional flows of dangerous waste for landfills. However, the development of mining, natural gas and oil in Colorado will generate new waste. Source

Supermarkets usually provide you with an option of choosing between plastic and paper bags to carry your groceries from the store, unless, of course you're carrying your own wholesale reusable bag. Some states such as New Jersey could offer these sacks for a small fee, usually for a few extra pennies if the Legislature brings the pending bills into law. Regardless of what choice you may make, it will be subject to plenty of debate regarding which one better suit the environment. The legislative session in the fall will see one of the biggest battles as clean ocean advocates and environmental groups are forcing those who make the law to either charge a fee on those who opt for the bags, or to ban plastic bags for a single use. A hearing was held to address the issue surrounding Barnegat Bay's decline, which among other issues lists storm-water basins being clogged by plastic bags as one of the reasons for the waterway's rising pollution. New Jersey Sierra Club's director Jeff Tittel said that drains don't function because plastic bags clog them up. Some conservationists argue that plastic products such as bags are the major source of garbage in the oceans, and pose major threats to sea birds and marine life. The Surfrider Foundation's regional manager in the North-East, John Weber said that the United Nations estimated that nearly a million seabirds and a hundred thousand marine mammals die every year from becoming tangled or ingesting plastics, and not just the bags. Findings Revealed by the ACC in New Jersey The ACC (American Chemistry Council) was in support of the view. The CO2 content doubles by the use of paper bags while the production of plastic bags requires less than 4% of the H2O required manufacturing paper bags. When compared to plastic sacks, paper bags are accountable for five times the solid waste, as revealed by the website of the industry group. Wholesale reusable bags are recommended for shoppers, and if the bill is passed, it will soon be a law in New Jersey. Wholesale Reusable Bags Are the Right Option in New Jersey Weber says that fees and bans work. Apart from reducing unsightly litter, these bans and fees can also help in reducing the deadly impact on marine life. The manufacturing sector has representatives who dispute the view, saying that plastic covers are friendlier towards the environment than paper totes. The APBA (American Progressive Bag Alliance's spokesperson Donna Dempsey says that the carbon footprint present in paper bags is a lot more when compared to paper bags. Source

Groceries are brought to supermarkets in huge cardboard boxes. All these boxes are often disposed of when they can actually be recycled. ShopRite, a chain of supermarkets all over the United States contributes greatly to protection the environment by making sure a large percentage of these boxes are recycled. The HART Meeting for ShopRite The annual awards and meeting of HART, the transport management Agency of Hunterdon County, New Jersey enlightened all those who attended on some environmental issues and the use of eco-friendly promotional items. The meeting also presents awards, elects officers and features expert speakers during its course. During the meeting cooperatives were also discussed, where the owners also share the liability, membership and profits of the company. This system enhances protection of the environment and the people of the county. One such co-op called Wakefern Corp. has been recycling for over 4 decades. The store gives away produce that is over stocked apart from perishables. All this is given to local food banks as the outreach program of the company towards the local community. The Executive Director of HART, Tara Shepherd went over some of 2011's activities that contributed greatly to sustainable development. Last year, ShopRite stores recycled 19,500 tons of cardboard. Apart from all the recycling, the stores also recycled plastic bags, magazines, newspapers, office paper, plastic wrap and circulars. These great environmental initiatives don't only save the environment but also the company's money as it is not exactly cheap to dispose waste. Eco-Friendly Promotional Items Encouraged by the County at Shoprite The stores are known for their promotion of reusable and recycled shopping bags. These bags are given to customers instead of plastic bags and people who carry their own reusable bags get credits. Tractors that are used to pull trailers into warehouses are being fitted with engines that are extremely fuel efficient. The engines are also fitted with anti-idling devices that automatically turn them off if they are standing unused for certain periods of time. The companies in the county understand that hauling food and other items from warehouses to the grocery stores required a lot of energy. The trailers are made using stronger materials that weigh less than older ones. The tires that these trailers comprise off also roll with much more ease. The air pressures of the tires are checked frequently to ensure they are optimum. Source

The Study on Green Homes A study conducted by UCLA and UC Berkeley included houses that were labeled green by Energy Star, GreenPoint Rated and LEED. All these three are rating systems that label homes with the green certification. In order to get certified each one of these rating systems has their own specific criteria that has to be met. The criteria include ceilings that are well insulated and energy efficient lighting. Nils Kok, one of the researchers from the study and also a professor at UC Berkeley stated that it is the first systematic evidence of green label home's financial value in the marketplace. He added that green labels tend to influence and inform the opinions of consumers. When non-green labeled homes are compared to green labeled homes, the selling price of the latter is 9 percent more than the former.  The age, size and location of the homes were controlled so that all homes were compared fairly. The data included 1.6 million homes that were sold over the last 5 years. The average price of a home in California is $400,000, but a green label increased that amount by $34,800 on an average. Green homes will be of higher value in areas like Central Valley and Santa Cruz, stated Kok. Promotional Reusable Bags and Now Green Homes in California Kok added that consumers are smart when it comes to pricing of green homes and the advantages they give in terms of being extremely energy efficient. The go green ideology is also a great motivating factor for most consumers. According to real estate agents in California, the clientele that opt for green homes are usually more forward thinking. Young families are also choosing green homes for increased health safety of their children. For instance, parents do not want a house with leaky air ducts that can get dust into the lungs of their children. California has recently been witnessing a lot of changes in terms of environmental awareness. A voluntary ban on plastic bags is likely to become a permanent one. Such bans are increasing the number of eco-friendly promotional items that are seen all over California. Source

In Bellingham,Washington, stores are now offering coaching classes and reusable bags to help people transition from a life with plastic to one without. Stores in Bellingham Gear Up The ban prohibits the use of plastic bags in stores and other retail outlets. Most stores will also charge customers a 5 cent fee for a paper bag. The charge on paper bags is being imposed so that people are encouraged to use reusable bags. The ban is not restricted to grocery stores although they will be most impacted by the change. Promotional Reusable Bags at Established Stores in Bellingham If you haven't yet bought reusable bags, numerous stores in Bellingham are offering them as a promotion to kick start the ban. Target is giving out bags to the first 5,000 customers for free. Diehl Ford is giving its first 500 customers free reusable bags. Other stores that are giving out promotional reusable bags include NW Handspun Yarns and Labels consignment stores which will hand out promotional bags as well. To further encourage the use of reusable bags, stores like Target and Fred Meyer will give shoppers credit worth 5-cents for each bag used per shopping trip. Village Books is selling reusable bags and offering a 15% discount for all items that fit into the bag. Fourth Corner Quilts is holding classes for people who are interested in learning how to make their own canvas bags. These classes will be held in the first week of August for a few hours in the morning. The classes are inexpensive and charges include the materials cost. Making your own bags is a great way to customize you bags to suit your requirements. Shoppers are encouraged to be innovative and vary the designs and colors of the bags so that using them is a fun experience. A large number of cities are banning the use of plastic bags, which is leading to an increase in the demand for reusable and paper bags. Although paper bags are not harmful to the environment, reusable bags are more ideal. It is important to remember that reusable bags need proper maintenance and should be washed and dried regularly. For better use, it is ideal to use separate bags for different products, for instance a separate bag should be used for meat and poultry while another one should be assigned for dry products and vegetables. Source

Following the footsteps of PayLess Supermarkets, DNA Evolution recently announced its plans to promote eco-friendly practices in the community. According to a Kuam.com report, the clothing store based in Guam is promoting the green message through artsy reusable bags available at the DNA Evolution store. This initiative was started by local supermarket chain PayLess whose campaign 'Mission: Zero Bags' is aimed at saving at least one million disposable plastic shopping bags from affecting the environment every week. Following this, several other businesses in the local community have stepped up their plans to protect the environment. Guam Is Going Green with Memorable Catchphrases The reusable bags distributed by DNA Evolution are designed with catchy quotes like 'Don't Be Mean, Go Green!' and 'Save the Planet, Dammit'! These unusual saying are catching the fancy of young eco-enthusiasts in Guam as more people are supporting the store's initiatives. These messages are being displayed on the reusable bags available at DNA Evolution. All stores under DNA Evolution like Volcom, Kicks/Hi and Stussy are offering these eco friendly bags to all their patrons. The store does not offer plastic bags and instead carries reusable bags in different sizes. Choosing Reusable Bags over Plastic Regardless of how the small the purchase is, DNA Evolution provides reusable shopping totes to all its patrons. The store awards free promotional shopping bags to customers who have purchased only one t-shirt. Additionally, people can also visit the store to buy the bags. In fact, several customers have shown great interest in these attractive bags and often purchase them and use them as gift bags. More shoppers in Guam have shown an interest in purchasing these eco friendly bags for affordable prices. While the small sized bags are available for $1 each, the larger ones are sold at $2 per bag. Guam Is Grabbing Attention with Catchy Words The administrative assistant of DNA Evolution, Karen Ejan, revealed that the bags were designed to draw attention to the hazards of plastic contamination. With the main purpose of keeping Guam clean and encouraging its customers to recycle more often, DNA Evolution is being respectful to the local environment. Ejan admitted that the interesting slogans may either be interpreted positively or considered offensive. She adds that the purpose of the reusable cloth bags is to grab the attention of the public and help speed up the conservation process. Many businesses in Guam have been using recyclable bags over plastic ones as their remote location makes disposing difficult. Residents of Guam find it difficult to dispose of plastic bags safely without endangering the ocean life. With thousands of new tourists visiting the island every year, local businesses are taking the responsibility more seriously by keeping plastic usage to a minimum. Local residents of Guam as well visiting tourists have been immensely supportive of this green project ...

Today, children are made aware of ways to protect the environment. Schools are taking the initiative to teach their children a thing or two about how they can help bring about environmental sustainability. Apart from encouraging them to use reusable bags, they are also teaching them about seed papers and other eco-friendly items. With this kind of encouragement, students in some schools are considering starting their own environmentally friendly ventures in the future. Westchester Senior High School, CA Green Initiative Students at Westchester Senior High School, California have started an eco-friendly business called The Green Comets, Inc. It was started in November 2011. The company has been established by the department of Special Education in the school. Students of the department have actively taken part in making the launch of this business a success. The staffs here have been known for the different kinds of green initiatives they have taken along with their students in the past few years. The department has been actively promoting recycling activities that are aimed at making the environment cleaner. Some students that have been a part of this department, Kamron Portier, Lonzorod Record, Alma Belasco, Najai Lowe, Isaac Jones and Joshua Erenmark along with their teachers have brought the business forward. They have taken a step ahead in making the business a success. Besides recycling, it is now involved in promoting reusable items. They are selling reusable bags that are handmade. You can use them for your grocery shopping. Students take part in other kinds of activities like collecting plastic bottles to recycle them, working on making grocery bags and washing aluminum cans, etc. They scour the entire school premises to collect recyclable items. These kinds of activities are aimed at increasing the environmental consciousness of the student body. What the Westchester Students Have to Say My.HSJ.org interviewed Joy Bukhardt, a teacher at the department and Alma Belasco, a student representative of the company last week. They found out that the students have a "system" in place that helps them run the business. They make the promotional reusable bags themselves. First, a paper bag pattern is traced on the fabric using chalk. Then, the pattern is cut out with sewing scissors. The patterns are then sewed together and reusable labels are added to them. The labels are made from cereal boxes. The company got an opportunity to sell the products recently. Their reusable bags were sold at 'build a garden, grow a community' event that was held in Westchester. The students got to display their business skills in the event where they advertised the products of The Green Comet, Inc to their prospective customers and carried out business transactions with them. This event helped them to gain public exposure. What the Future holds for The Green Comet, Inc The company is still in its initial stages of growth according to the students. They are aiming at ...