Bag Monster® Week in Review

Lots of great news on the reusable bag movement this week. Here are the updates:

• By May 2011 at the latest, shoppers in Wales will be charged up to 15-pence each for single-use plastic bags. Read More
• South Australia's plastic bag ban has been extremely successful in its first six months. The ban took effect in May and research shows that nine out of ten shoppers and now taking reusable bags with them when they shop. Prior to the ban, six in ten remembered their reusable bags. Read More
• The island of Phuket in Thailand has decided to implement a fee on single-use plastic bags. Under an initiative called 'Keep Phuket Clean, Keep Phuket Green", a fee of one baht will apply to plastic bags with a five liter capacity or less, and two baht will be charged for larger bags. Details of the fee will be finalized on December 4th. Read More
• Abu Dhabi officials are getting closer to a plastic bag ban. The Centre of Waste Management has submitted a resolution to the Executive Council to ban plastic bags in Abu Dhabi, UAE. If approved, the resolution would go into effect next year. Read More

Bag Monster has been all over the map lately. Early last week, Bag Monster® enjoyed an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of Taipei Walker Magazine in the heart of Taipei, Taiwan before heading back to California to celebrate Halloween.

Bag Monster® spent some time touring the vendor booths and made a TV appearance before stopping by the main stage. He was not expecting what he saw next, a ChicoBag™ stuffing contest. People were lined up on stage in a race to stuff their ChicoBag™ brand reusable bags back into their attached pouches. The winner got theirs back in the pouch in seven seconds flat!

Bag Monster® was sick of hearing people rave about ChicoBag™ brand reusable bags and how much better they were than plastic bags, so he caught the wind and made his way to California just in time for Halloween!

Bag Monster® saw lots of familiar faces on Halloween and came close to getting eaten by a shark who passed by. Sharks love eating plastic bags! A few jellyfish stopped to say hello and thank you for keeping the sea turtles full. Sea turtles feed on jellyfish, but since there are so many Bag Monsters® out in the ocean that look so similar to jellyfish, they get confused.

Wales to be first in UK to charge shoppers for plastic bags

In June, the Welsh Assembly asked for public opinion on instating a 15-pence bag fee in Wales. Yesterday, Environment Minister Jane Davidson confirmed that by May 2011 shoppers will be charged up to 15-pence each for single-use plastic bags.

More details will be released early next year, but it is clear that the plan would require retailers to charge their customers for single-use bags and use the money collected for a good cause.

The plan has been well received by some, but others are not thrilled.  Many shop owners have been working hard to reduce the number of single-use bags they hand out and are displeased by the news. Director of CBI Wales, David Rosser, said "In a situation where usage has been cut by pretty much 50 percent by voluntary measures, I think we feel disappointed there was felt to be a need to go down a regulatory route."

While reduction has been achieved through education and individual store incentive programs, Davidson does not feel that it is enough. 

"I commend retailers for their efforts in getting this far but, despite those best efforts, data from this year illustrates that the seven retailers who are signed up to the current voluntary agreement still gave away 27 million bags in Wales in the month of May alone this year. That still adds up to potentially 324 million bags in a year," said Davidson.

Once the fee is in place in Wales, shoppers may find it easier to remember to bring their reusable bags or at least think twice before taking a bag for just a few times.

Davidson feels that a fee is the best course of action for Wales. "I have long said that carrier bags represent a waste of resources and they are an iconic symbol of the throwaway society we now seem to live in. We are behind the game when you look at what other countries have achieved with stronger action. In simple terms, the evidence shows that introducing a charge works. It is not my intention to create unnecessary additional burden for businesses and I want to make the reporting and enforcement arrangement as simple as possible."

Read Full Story: Wales Online

Bag Monster® Week in Review

There has been a lot of news on the reusable bag movement this week. Here's the latest:

• Santa Cruz County Supervisor, Mike Stone, has plans to make Santa Cruz County, CA paper and plastic bag free by Earth Day 2010. Read More
• Los Angeles county kicked off their "Got Your Bags" campaign on Thursday. The campaign is a public education and outreach effort to encourage California shoppers to use reusable bags. Read More
• Northern Ireland retailers are being urged by the Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, to further reduce plastic bag usage. Since May 2006 Northern Ireland has seen a 38% drop in usage, but it is not enough. Read More
  
• City and County officials in Hollister, CA are researching ways to reduce plastic bag use and encourage shoppers to use reusable bags. Read More
• Calabasas, CA City Council puts a proposed plastic bag ban on hold until an environmental impact report is completed by the County of Los Angeles. Read More
  
• The City Development Committee of Yangon in Myanmar ordered plastic producers to stop all small and thin plastic production by the end of November. Read More
  
• Milpitas, CA has taken the first step towards banning single-use plastic bags. City Council voted unanimously, 4-0, to conduct a study on single-use plastic bags throughout the city.  Read More
  

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Everyone at ChicoBag™!

Bag Monster® Events - Bioneers and Greenschools

Bag Monster® at Bioneers!
Bag Monster® made an appearance at the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael this year, but found that he didn't have much in common with the people there.

He was astonished to see that there was not a single plastic bag in sight. Almost everyone there was using reusable bags from ChicoBag™.

Bag Monster® was about ready to give up on this crowd of ChicoBag-loving Bioneers when he laid his eyes on something that reminded him of home...a giant bale of plastic bottles!

He was going to take them with him on his way back to the ocean, but to his dismay was told that these bottles would be recycled and never make it to the ocean! Bag Monster's stomach turned at the thought of an ocean without plastic bags...

Apparently there are people who don't like that Bag Monsters® have made a home out of the ocean. Bag Monster® had heard enough about the harms of plastic bags and their negative impact on the environment and marine life so he caught the wind to Maryland for a greenschools event.

Students from Wakefield, MA, were thrilled to meet Bag Monster! 


Bag Monster® teamed up with greenschools, a non-profit organization and their Sustainable Music Program to educate students about ways to make a difference.


For more information about greenschools, visit www.projectgreenschools.org and learn how to bring The Green Difference to your school and community!






Check out this video of Bag Monster rocking out on stage with the Van Burens.  The Van Burens are a group of incredibly talented musicians and music educators who perform original music to help teach children about sustainability.

Bag Monster® Week in Review

Single-use bag news has been rolling in all week.  Here are the updates:

• Florida officials discuss a statewide single-use bag ban. Read More
• Just in time for the holidays retailers are beginning to reward customers for bringing reusable bags. Target offers a 5-cent discount for every reusable bag you use and CVS will give you a $1 credit for every four trips that you bring your own bag. Read More 
• Dubai Ministry of the Environment and Water launched a three year campaign to ban plastic bags by 2013 and encourage reusable bags. Read More 
• San Francisco Mayor proposed a 10-cent rebate to customers who bring their own reusable bags and may ban paper bags next. Read More  
• International Day of Climate Action is tomorrow. Read More

Bag Monster® has been all over the place lately.  He had a great time at Bioneers last weekend, got to rock out with some of the Greenschools students and is going to be attending International Day of Climate Action events tomorrow. Check back on Monday for an update on what Bag Monster® has been up to.  

International Day of Climate Action is this Saturday

This Saturday, October 24th marks the International Day of Climate Action and communities worldwide are preparing to do their part.   In case you hadn't heard, global warming is a real issue that  is wreaking havoc on the environment at a faster rate than ever before.  The amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere currently exceeds the "safe" amount. If the world continues to expel carbon dioxide at current rates, the world as we know it will cease to exist. 

An international agreement is needed to reduce carbon emissions, and quickly.  The International Day of Climate Action is an opportunity for communities around the world to make their voices heard.  Reducing emmissions to 350ppm will not be an easy feat, but it needs to happen and 350.org is making it a priority to bring international attention to the issue.  

"350.org is the first large-scale grassroots global campaign against climate change. It's supporters include leading scientists, the governments of 89 countries, and a huge variety of environmental, health, development and religious NGO's. All agree that current atmospheric levels of CO2 - 390 parts per million - are causing damage to the planet and to its most vulnerable people, and that government action at the Copenhagen climate conference is required to bring the earth's carbon level swiftly down." (Learn more at 350.org)

Watch this video by 350.org to learn more about the day of action:

Events are taking place around the world. As of this morning there are 4,457 actions in 172 countries confirmed. Find out what events are already planned for Saturday and take part, or plan your own!