BYOB — No, We Mean Bring Your Own Bag

Come January 1st BYOB will have a whole new meaning and if you don’t know it, it’s going to cost you. Single use plastic bags are out in San Jose and if you don’t BYO bag, San Jose retailers are going to charge you 10 cents for every paper bag they put your stuff in. We only use these flimsy bags for the time it takes to tote our purchases home but the magnitude of their pollution is monstrous and lasts lifetimes. I spoke to Andy Keller who’s the inventor and President of Chicobag. He says about 100 billion plastic bags are handed out by U.S. retailers each year. World-wide estimates are as high as a trillion. Keller invented a lightweight and compact reusable bag after a visit to the dump inspired him to do something about all of the plastic waste he saw there.

As they float all over the place, single use plastic bags become air born roadside litter. They clog our sewers and storm drains, which is why Bangladesh banned them, and they float out to our waterways and oceans where birds and marine life eat them and die. If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a floating garbage patch that’s mostly plastic between Hawaii and San Francisco that’s the size of two Texas’s. Restaurants and charity shops like the Salvation Army are exempt from San Jose’s ordinance and Sue Vang at Californians Against Waste says that many Bay Area cities are working to put similar restrictions in place. Environmentalists, cities and counties have tried to legislate bans for years but weren’t able to beat the plastics industry’s lawsuits until San Francisco became nation’s first in 2007. Last year the American Chemistry Council opposed a statewide ban that would have eliminated the need for the patchwork of local laws growing throughout California.

Chicobag was sued by three of the largest U.S. plastic bag manufacturers, Hilex Poly, Superbag and Advance Polybag. They challenged educational information on Chicobag’s website. They also sued the City of Oakland in response to their proposed plastic bag ordinance. In September they settled with Chicobag, who modified its website. Oakland passed their ban but the lawsuit suspended it. Meanwhile, China has banned them and 25% of the world’s residents live where they’re restricted. Keller says that the plastics industry isn’t responding to consumers’ concerns about unnecessary waste and is using court battles to keep states and cities from shifting to more sustainable options. Come January 1st when you’re asked to pay ten cents for a bag, you might decide that it’s cheaper for you and better for the environment to BYOB or rock a bigger purse or backpack.