Worth reading.
“How D.C. Beat the Plastic Bag Lobby” by Lauren Markoe. (OneEarth.org, November 11, 2010)
Category Archives: Activism
Beth Terry speaking at BlogHer
Beth Terry — she of Fake Plastic Fish — is speaking at BlogHer this weekend. Congratulations!
But what drew my attention to this was a thread of basic advice for reducing convention plastic waste through her Twitter feed. I was already primping for “bring your own badge holder” but her “Water bottles are great, but mugs are more versatile!” tweet is that amazing mix of plainly obvious and really useful.
So be sure to follow both her blog and Twitter feed.
“The Story of Bottled Water”
A great video; a follow up to The Story of Stuff. The video is more than eight minutes long, so I suspect it’s use is best for those who are already convinced to make a case, rather than sugesting your indifferent friends to watch it.
The matching site also has other resources, including an annotated script.
Bag surcharge bill to DC Council
Twelve of the thirteen members of the District of Columbia Council have introduced the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act which includes a five-cent fee on disposable grocery bags, plastic or paper.
Would be nice if it included other retailers — especially restaurants — but this probably gets the biggest number of bags off the streets and out of the environment.
Story at Greater Greater Washington.
Press release at the site of Councilmember Tommy Wells (Ward 6) and TrashFreeAnacostia.com.
Brita fiter campaign successful
Plastic water bottles are a terrible source of plastic waste, so drinking tap water — perhaps filtered — makes sense. Brita has been taking advantage of this new sensitivity with a compelling a: buy our filters and be green.
Beth Terry — she of Fake Plastic Fish — led a campaign to get Brita to take back their plastic-cased filters for recycling as they do overseas. And she and her cohorts have succeeded.
Week-old news, perhaps, but continuing evidence that there’s merit in applying pressure on companies to reduce their plastic load on consumers, and other worthwhile changes. Packaging reduction comes to mind, and in particular encouraging computer retailers to swap expanded foam packaging for molded paper fiber (like many egg cartons are made).