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a,. `~`~The ULS Report It's Time for All of Us to Get Involved By Robert Lilienfeld, Editor As concerns over global ecological degradation increase, Americans are looking to take action to protect their local environments. One community, San Francisco, and one retailer, Whole Foods, have decided to reduce perceived environmental impacts by banning or eliminating plastic bags in favor of paper ones. Unfortunately, these actions will not eliminate the problems they are intended to solve. Even more concerning is the fact they may actually exacer- bate [hem. it inadvertently relieves individuals of the responsibility to reducexheir own consumption of materials and energy. The Local Picture On the local level, however, there is a problem in which plastic bags play a role: litter. Their widespread use and light weight do cause them to blow around roadways and waterways, creating unsighily.litter and pollution potential. The Big Misconceptions , These decisions suffer from avo widespread, but erroneous, beliefs about the environmental effects of grocery bags. The firs[ misconception has to do with facts. Major issues facing the global environment include climate change, pollution, and resource depletion. The truth is that when it comes to the causes of these problems --energy consump- tion and greenhouse gas generation, waste creation and resource usage -- scientific evidence points to plastic bags as being environmentally preferable to paper ones.* This evidence is part of the scientific approach known as lifecycle analysis, which determines the full impact of different materials or products across every phase of their life cycle. Sometimes [he results can be surprising. For example, plastic bags are often cited as being a source of energy depletion because they are made from fossil fuels. Ironically, full impact assessments indicate that plastic bags consume far less energy than do paper bags during the life- cycle of production; transportation, use and disposal. The second misconception has to do with focus. Placing so much emphasis on grocery bags takes public attention away from [he real culprits behind our global environmen- tal woes: increasing worldwide material and energy con- sumption caused by growing populations and economies. In fact, research indicates that up to 99% of environmental burdens created by retail purchases are not caused by shop- ping bags, but rather by the stuff put in [hose bags and the energy i[ takes [o create, transport, and store [hat stuff! Thus, by concentrating "green" efforts on paper vs. plastic bags and expecting government and business to take appro- priate actions, the public is led to believe that environmen- tal problems are being solved without the need to become significantly involved. Such complacency is dangerous, as Let me speak,direcdy to the plastic bag industry: You have developed a prograin'to encourage greater recycling. If, as you say, plastic gags are too valuable to waste, get that message out broadly and make recycling more accessible to the public! Collaborate with local authorities and busi- nesses to ensure-that recycling is effective in areas where it is legislated. Work with retailers and local governments to share your knowledge of recycling best practices. Help them educate consumers about available in-store recy- cling programs. Motivate the public to participate in these programs. As you learn, create and share model recycling programs, awareness campaigns and legislation that can be success- fully implemented, nationwide. In so doing, both plastic bag litter and the temptation to pursue plastic bag bans will diminish, while the collection and recycling of [hose valuable bags will increase --just as it has for newspapers, metal cans and beverage containers. The Bottom Line Banning bags of any type will not produce the intended results and will take our eyes off truly significant envi- ronmental problems related to resource consumption and depletion. To conserve energy and reduce waste, politi- cians, producers and retailers must base their environmen- tal decisions on sound science and lifecycle thinking rather than on ideological arguments. Consumers have a major role to play as well, by remember- ing [o implement [he three R's: reduce by doing more with' less stuff, fewer bags and fewer trips to the store; reuse bags as many times as possible; and after the useful lives of your bags have ended, recycle them. It's time for all of us --individuals, institutions and indus- try -- to take responsibility for making it happen. ~i~fii ~i 'There are at least three peer-reviewed studies That,point to the reduced environmental impacts of plastic vs. paper bags. See Review of Research Comparing the Environmental Impact of Paper vs. Plastic Bags at wrwv.use-less-stuff.wm. _ (Continued from Puge 3.)