Citizens taking action ~ Vancouver, Lower Mainland, and beyond.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Public not fooled by plastics industry's phoney science
The plastics industry has funded a scientific study that concluded that reusable bags "pose a public health risk." Read the Vancouver Sun coverage here ~ and don't miss the comments from the readers.
The Vancouver chapter of Surfriders is asking Mayor Robertson's Greenest City Action Team to back a ban on plastic bags. Maybe they'll make a presentation to Council like this one in Santa Monica.
gosh, a more interesting study would examine different materials & different ways of using the reusable bags.. to see which are best to use! (cloth because you can wash it easily?)
it would be interesting to know even which cloth materials & washing detergents are best to use..
indeed, if you put meat in resealable reusable containers (like Tupperware or such), there are no leaks!! There ARE leaks, if meat is clumsily wrapped into a mixture of plastic bags & plastic-lined paper - I've seen it done!! That is the YUK!! Even a throwawayable plastic bag won't help much then!
& who puts diapers together with food? (hopefully they were clean diapers at least?)
I think they looked for dirtiest, 'fishiest' reusable bags in the street, & 'examined' those! :)
& wow, 24 bags were studied.. how can this represent anything??
Do you sew? Want to learn -- or refresh rusty skills?
Our Bag Project is looking for volunteers to help organize "sweatshop socials" and other neat events inspired by this great project in Brooklyn NY.
Contact us at zerowastevancouver at gmail dot com and put Bag Project in the subject line. Thanks!
We're holding the dragons at bay!
In January 2008 Metro Vancouver proposed building up to 6 waste incinerators in this region.
We have been working ever since in partnership with local communities to raise awareness of the problems with this plan.
Look at our successes:
~ March 2008: at a 2-day workshop (Garbage 101) 35 people learned the basics about our region's waste management system...
~ May 2008: at lively meetings in Abbotsford, New Westminster, and downtown Vancouver, over 350 people from across the province heard Dr. Paul Connett explain why even if you could make incineration safe, you could never make it sensible... ~ Summer 2008: Port Moody citizens participate in a thorough review of Plasco's garbage gasification proposal...
~ October 2008: Port Moody Council adopts their recommendation not to proceed with the Plasco proposal...
~ November 2008: Zero Waste Vancouver announces the results of a survey of candidates in the civic elections, revealing overwhelming opposition to incinerators among responding candidates...
~ January 2009: Metro Board votes not to pursue expropriation of the Canfor industrial site after a receiving a staff report acknowledging "political uncertainty" around waste-to-energy...
~ June 2009: Metro Board receives a 300-page report presenting 8 options for waste in the region, and only 2 involve building new incinerators...
It is still important to keep talking to your elected officials. Send some summer greetings to the politicians on Metro Vancouver's waste management committee. Tell them you don't want them to build costly new incinerators.Incinerators encourage waste ~ and threaten our community health and safety.
Ask for the money to be spent on creating a Zero Waste Economythrough recycling and composting.
Metro Vancouver is ready to throw away a serviceable landfill and go out and spend $3 billion on brand new waste incinerators. Is this what your thrifty grandmother would do?
Probably not. She'd try to fix the landfill instead! Here are some links to reports about "mechanical and biological treatment" (MBT) ~ a way of cleaning up garbage so it's safe to bury:
Are you concerned about waste in the Lower Mainland? You are invited to join in the discussion here on this blog! To contact Zero Waste Vancouver, drop us a line at zerowastevancouver[at]gmail.com
2 comments:
The "reusable bag is a health risk" mantra is really scraping the barrel. Leaky meat wraps were said to be a major cause.
I use reusable bags and sealed containers for meat/fish. So no leaky meat.
I visited the American Plastic Industry forum recently. They are truly deluded!
gosh, a more interesting study would examine different materials & different ways of using the reusable bags.. to see which are best to use! (cloth because you can wash it easily?)
it would be interesting to know even which cloth materials & washing detergents are best to use..
indeed, if you put meat in resealable reusable containers (like Tupperware or such), there are no leaks!!
There ARE leaks, if meat is clumsily wrapped into a mixture of plastic bags & plastic-lined paper - I've seen it done!! That is the YUK!!
Even a throwawayable plastic bag won't help much then!
& who puts diapers together with food? (hopefully they were clean diapers at least?)
I think they looked for dirtiest, 'fishiest' reusable bags in the street, & 'examined' those! :)
& wow, 24 bags were studied.. how can this represent anything??
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