In a region of the world that is usually not associated with environmental stewardship (I’ve visited – these cats don’t recycle), it’s really great to read a story like this one, short as it may be. One of the chains of grocery stores in the UAE is encouraging people to use reusable bags, and is charging for the distribution of plastic ones. Clean, concise, and very very good news for Middle Eastern greening initiatives…

We were all so busy giving Ikea their (well-deserved) kudos that most news carriers didn’t even take notice of this – Ireland is raising their Plastax in June. The price-per-pag hasn’t gone up since the tax was introduced and unfortunately, plastic bag use has gone up again. But the Irish government is so committed to making the program work that they’re putting in measures to ensure that people don’t forget about the tax.

Plus, it’ll raise millions more dollars (Euros) for their environmental initiatves. And who doesn’t want to help their government help the environment?!

I’m a sucker for unconventional comedy. So I really took a shining to the Ikea ads a few years ago – the one with the lamp on the curb, that makes you feel really really sorry for the lamp? Quality.

Well Ikea is back in my good books again when they announced this – every Ikea store in the US is going to start charging 5 cents for every plastic bag that they distribute. They’ve also reduced the cost of their reusable bags, which will now cost on 59 cents, to encourage people to use them.

This sets a great example for the United States, who haven’t been known yet to be trailblazers in the fight against plastic bags. And really, when you think about it, isn’t a loose plastic bag sitting on a curb a whole lot sadder than a lamp sitting there?

I’m always anxious to promote and support the arts, which is why this excites me so much. A photographer named Chris Jordan has created an exhibit entitled Running the Numbers, and it features photographs of large quantities of everyday items, including plastic bags. Ever wonder what 60,000 plastic bags (the amount used in the United States every 5 seconds) looks like? It’s all there. And it ain’t pretty.

First off, sorry for the lapse in time between blogs. For a number of reasons, none of which are overly important, I’ve been incommunicado for the past week, but I’m back now and BOY do we have a lot to talk about…!

Over in the UK again, they’re making some progress in their ban. It’s nice to see that the movement is gaining all sorts of momentum now and that there are a number of politicians and legislators now backing this cause. It’s crucial to have this sort of support, because these are the people with the ability to actually enact and enforce change.

In Australia, the Chairman of Keep Australia Beautiful is calling for a national levy on plastic bags. Currently, there are a number of cities and townships that have taxes or bans on the bags but no national action has been taken yet. What bothers me about this article a little bit though is the fact that Keep Australia Beautiful and Clean Up Australia, two interests groups with largely the same mission statement, can’t band together and work in unison for this cause. We see them putting each other down, with KAB calling CUA’s call for a ban too extreme, and CUA saying that a tax isn’t harsh enough. Why can’t we just get along??

Hop back up to England for a moment, where it’s been established that Brits wasted enough plastic bags last year to cover the entire city of London. That’s almost 6 billion bags. Holy smokes, that’s a lot of bags. Good timing to be thinking seriously about a tax, eh?

It’s almost like these stories write themselves. Plastic bags as an accomplice to an atomic threat – I’m not even going to link to a story because, well, it’s a little off message.

What’s ON message is a little shpiel here from a Maine campus newspaper on the importance of not using plastic bags. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I really love it when young people take an interest in these issues. It’s nice to know that there are others in my age bracket who care about the same things as I do…

More good news is that there’s an independent shop owner in England who, for the month of February, is not going to distribute a single free plastic bag. I can’t imagine that will detract from her business though – she’ll continue to sell reusable bags, and hopes that people will remember to bring their bags with them as well when they shop there. And maybe this habit will transfer over to the rest of their shopping practices…? We can only hope.