Today the FTC holds its first-ever workshop on carbon offsets. Carbonfund.org is represented by our Executive Director, Eric Carlson, who was invited to participate in the Session 5 panel, "Roundtable Discussion on Consumer Protection Challenges and Need for FTC Guidance." We'll report on the workshop tomorrow.
In the meantime, a couple of articles about China, which announced today a surprise ban on free plastic bags in its stores, according to ENN. A small step to be sure, but perhaps it indicates that the Chinese government is becoming aware of the serious environmental disaster brewing in its country. Contrast this lengthy, detailed New York Times article, which explains how as China moves to become the world's factory, it is also becoming the world's smokestack. In light of that, is the ban on free bags a sign of drastic action to come, or a token gesture that will do little?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
FTC Workshop Today; China Bans Plastic Bags
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5 comments:
I think its a good idea not to carry plastic bags-- we can live off paper.
rocknrollanarchy.blogspot.com
Hmm, sounds nice on paper, but knowing Asians, it's probably a gimmick to appease Westerners.
William,
When it comes to the environment (as with many issues), I tend to think that there are few absolute bad guys, fewer absolute good guys, and a huge spectrum of people and organizations in between. In this paradigm, the most important consideration is each choice. China's choice to limit a huge waste stream is good for the environment. This good decision is worthy of note, praise, and emulation.
It has nothing to do with appeasing Westerners. Grocery stores in the United States never required customers to bring reusable cloth bags for their purchases. In countries such as China and Europe, consumers were always required to bring their own bags because of their beliefs of excessive waste and it was poor economics to use disposable store bags. It is reported it takes 2.2 billion barrels of oil to produce the world's hunger for plastic bags at the grocery store. The US consumes enough plastic bags for purchases in one year that you can lay all of them flat and they would cover the equator 3 feet deep around the world. If we started to use just paper you would require a forest the size of Texas for our obession to carry out our groceries. Paper uses MORE energy to produce too. The solution is to bring YOUR OWN cloth bags to the store. Whole Foods Markets insist you do and Wal-Mart has started a program already. Bring your own cloth bags to the store.
Whenever I go to the store I either bring in my own bags when I'm making large purchases, like groceries, or ask the clerk if I can carry my purchases out by hand. Once, at a CVS, I was buying a coloring pad, a box of 96 crayons, and a few other items a few days before Christmas. I asked the young lady behind the counter if I could carry out my products by hand and she replied, "Oh no, you've got to much here to just carry out!" and started putting them in a plastic bag. I was a bit taken aback that she had decided what was best for me so I told her, "No, thank you, I'll carry them by hand to the car. We waste millions of plastic bags each year, everyone I don't use helps." I don't know if she cared, or got it, but I do this all the time and hope one day that someone will consider doing the same themselves. Hey, I got my best friend to stop using them, so that's a step forward already!
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