Island residents urged to "Bag the [plastic] Bag"

Reporter-at-Large

Some 12,000 plastic bags are given out free every day in just three Amelia Island stores – Publix, Winn-Dixie and Harris Teeter.

“That’s approximately four million a year,” Tony Crawford, a member of the steering committee of Bag the Bag/Save the Ocean told a small gathering of environmental advocates at Uncle Charlie’s Saturday.

Mr. Crawford talked to officials of the supermarket about the group’s campaign to get people to eschew plastic and use cloth bags instead. He also went to the Publix corporate office in Jacksonville and presented a proposal for the company to subsidize the local manufacture of cloth bags. The proposal has been forwarded to the Publix headquarters in Lakeland, Mr. Crawford said.

The impetus for the campaign was a Facebook post by Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Johnny Miller showing sea animals tangled in or choking on errant plastic bags. Commissioner Miller, who used to live in Hawaii, noted that Hawaii, an island community, had banned plastic bags.

“The thing is, we live on the ocean,” he said. “The plastic bags get in the ocean. Animals get tangled in them and die.”

Florida law, according to Commissioner Miller, forbids municipalities to ban plastic bags. The Surfrider Foundation, a national organization started by surfers to protect the ocean, waves and beaches, is working to have that law repealed. Meanwhile, Bag the Bag is trying to change the culture – starting in the checkout line. Instead of asking customers “Is plastic OK?”, the group wants supermarket checkers to say something like “Did you remember to bring your reusable bags today?”

The group will also urge stores to put up signs reminding shoppers to bring their cloth bags.

“Winn-Dixie’s done that,” said Lori Miller.

Winn-Dixie gives shoppers a friendly reminder.
Photos courtesy of Eliza Schulte Holliday

Local supermarkets sell reusable cloth bags, but “they’re from China – that’s the down side,” said Julie Ferrereia of the Sierra Club.

Emissions from China’s polluting factories increase sulfate concentrations in the western United States by as much as two percent and also increase ozone and carbon monoxide levels, according to a study published in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study stated, however, that because the population density in the eastern United States is greater, the outsourcing of manufacturing to China has “an overall beneficial effect for the U.S. public health.”

The issue is further complicated by findings that some cloth bags contain toxic levels of lead. In 2010, The Tampa Tribune tested a sampling of bags and found that some sold in Winn-Dixie and Publix stores contained lead levels that concerned health officials. The article said the lead was not likely to leach out onto food when the bags are new, but could pose an ecological threat in landfills when the bags wear down and are trashed. At the time the article was published, spokespersons from both Winn-Dixie and Publix said that their bags complied with federal law and were safe to use.

Dwaine Stevens, a spokesman for Publix, said in a statement:

"All suppliers and potential suppliers for any reusable bags to be sold at Publix, will meet or exceed the expectations of any allowable traces of lead. This expectation includes dyes , material, or processing of the manufacturing of the bags. 

We want to assure our customers we are in compliance and have a very robust and responsible sustainability program."

By press time, no response had been received from Winn-Dixie.

To avoid any problems posed by made-in-China reusable bags, Bag the Bag plans to have cloth bags made in the USA. The group will “hopefully in a week” launch a contest inviting local artists to design a cloth bag to be sold locally. The design will have to incorporate the slogan “Bag the Bag, Save the Ocean”, according to Ms. Ferrereia.

“To get Fernandina on board, it will have to say ‘Fernandina’, which will also appeal to tourists,” she added. “The goal is to have the designs displayed at the Wild Amelia event May 16-18 and to have the public vote for the best one.”

The group also plans displays at the Fernandina Beach Farmers’ Market and other city events. Betsy Harris volunteered to act as Events Coordinator.

Commissioner Miller said he plans to introduce a resolution at an upcoming City Commission meeting calling for a proclamation on plastic bags and also “telling Tallahassee that we don’t like them telling cities what they can’t do” to protect the environment.

Ms. Ferreira stressed that, given the state law forbidding a local ban on plastic bags, “we’re doing something that’s voluntary.”

“Soon it will be a thing like smoking,” predicted steering committee member Maggie Carlson. “You light up – it’s not cool.”

She added: “If you have twelve thousand plastic bags a day being distributed here, I feel a sense of urgency.”

Editor's Note: Anne H. Oman relocated to Fernandina Beach from Washington, D.C. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Washington Times, Family Circle and other publications. We thank Anne for her contributions to the Fernandina Observer.

April 9, 2014 10:48 a.m.