Monthly Archives: July 2017
More States and Countries are choosing to Ban and or Reduce access to Plastic Bags
a repost … and more posts to follow on what is As the years go by Washington state is slowing banning plastic bags ..
happening now 2017 … Tacoma, WA plastic ordinance starts 7/12/2017 and 2012 seems like eons ago
I have to include an 2015 update to what seemingly was a ban in 2012, was in reality. a choice to pay .5 – .10cents for plastic bags if you want them? The good news is that the transition to an actual ban on plastic as a choice is happening in some parts of Washington state! YAY I have been shaking my head for the last 2yrs when more often than not the checker goes into auto-reaction mode and grabs the plastic if the consumer didn’t bring their own. I am not sure what I expected, but having forgotten my own bags on several occasions the response or offer for a reusable bag was seldom or none and makes me wonder just how much of an impact is being made since the statistics are probably tainted with how many plastic bags are given out each day versus paper or offering a reusable bag. Now, in this year of 2015, no plastic bags are available at more grocery stores and if you don’t have your reusable some of the clerks actually say paper or you can buy one of ours …. finally.
In March of 2012, I heard that Alameda County California voted to implement their “ban” on single use bags not regulate them sometime around January 2013. It just so happens that at or around the same time things were being finalized in different parts of our beautiful state of Washington. Though it has been a long struggle for Washington State to move towards an ordinance that would “ban” bags at retail outlets due to big MONEY in the plastics industry. However, in late December, word was that the City Councils Zero Waste Initiative to “ban” plastic bags in limited and in graduated way realized after four years. In 2008, the Council banned Styrofoam and though they tried to regulate plastic bags they got serious push back from the industry, which spent about $1.4 million, collected signatures with rumors of leaving out some info … then had the ordinance repealed. It was nice to read about Council Bill 117345, a bill to protect Puget Sound, our marine wildlife and our Environment in general joining about twelve states and up to twenty nations. The Seattle City Council voted 9-0 to implement the ban on plastic carry out bags.
After years of pulling out my small recycled bags for the checker to shove my groceries into, Washington State is joining the global movement to protect marine wildlife; the ordinance will take effect on July 1, 2012. It may be a cliché, but this ordinance is a change we can all believe in. I have to say, at first; in my experiences; checkers seemed a little annoyed at having to fight with the reusable bags. The word from most Checkers back in the day was, that plastic is just easier. Yes, the first reusable bags were too small, the dye ran the material was unforgiving, but as folks found better ways to make them; the cost came down and more people bought them including me.
Now, the bags not only cost a little bit more, they are bigger more stylish, last forever are definitely more flexible, and a highly recommended investment. The move to switch from plastic to” bring your own bag” will be difficult for some at first; I intend to carry a few extra to give away or sell; on my website because documented studies show that birds, sea turtles and other wildlife eat plastic bags and some are made with toxic chemicals that could be harmful. The time for a behavior change is now. We all know change is tough, but here we are in the 21st Century and that floating garbage circle, called the ” Great Pacific Garbage Patch“ discovered in the 90′s by Charles Moore, is only getting bigger. There will always be push back from the plastics industry, their supporters as well as environmental activists who all feel the government does not go far enough and they may be right, but we have to start somewhere.
It baffles me at how complicated people have made the effort to clean up our environment; we all know the need to reduce TRASH as a whole and it starts at home, although Seattle is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the nation, only 13 percent of plastic bags are recycled or re-used.
We owe it to our next generation…
Grocery stores, as well as food service outlets owe it to consumers and the environment.
It took quite sometime and we’ve come a long way from fighting the plastic industry to now finding that Indeed some Grocers feel the same way by eliminating plastic bags period ~ 2015
stay tuned in … who are the enforcers?
repost from 2013
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Politics: Born Again Birther Party – reminder from 2011
In July 2008, a researcher “looking to dig up dirt on Obama” instead came across a birth announcement from 1961 in the Honolulu Advertiser documenting the birth of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in the state. The document, together with Obama’s certificate of live birth which showed his birth date, birth city, name, and parenta l information, definitively proved that Obama was born in the United States and is eligible to run for president. Yet, the conspiracy has lived on within the right-wing bowels of the Republican Party for the past couple of years. Most recently, real estate mogul and possible presidential hopeful Donald Trump has taken to the airwaves to challenge the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency. And while Trump claims that he’d rather be talking about how China and OPEC “are going to destroy us,” he has instead distracted the public with his fabricated controversy and used it to drum up right-wing support for his rumored presidential bid. Trump’s birtherism may have propelled him at the forefront of the Republican presidential primary, but it could also cause the credibility of the entire GOP 2012 field to take a steep fall.
RIGHT-WING BUY IN: Since the end of March, Trump has gone from being “really concerned” that “Obama was not born in this country” to insisting that his grandparents essentially lied about his birthplace to collect welfare and other citizenship “assets.” Trump’s colleagues haven’t backed away from his increasingly controversial comments. Instead, they have either tacitly or expressly supported his birther media blitz. Sarah Palin, who once said the “birther” issue is a “distraction” from the important issues, said on Sunday, “I appreciate that the Donald wants to spend his resources on something that so interests him and so many Americans, you know more power to him.” Pizza mogul Herman Cain was one of the first public figures who came to Trump’s defense, stating, “I respect people that believe he should prove his citizenship. He should prove he was born in the United States of America.” Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus has signaled that the RNC is willing and ready to embrace a Trump candidacy. Meanwhile, the GOP congressional leadership has its own history of tiptoeing around the issue. In the past, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has refused to call quest ions about President Obama’s citizenship illegitimate and declined to label such rhetoric “crazy,” saying “I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy, ok?” House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) hasn’t challenged his colleagues’ birther beliefs because, according to him, “it’s not up to me to tell them what to think.”
BIRTHER BILLS: The birther conspiracy has also been rearing its ugly head at the state-level. At least 13 states have had bills introduced that would require future presidential candidates to document their eligibility with birth certificates or other forms of proof that they were born in the United States. Committee actions have blocked such proposals in New Hampshire, Montana, Iowa, Maine, and Tennessee. Yet, in Arizona, the so-called “birther bill” is very much alive. Back in December, Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce (R) was already bragging about the fact that Obama would have to “show his papers” to enter his state. Last week, the Arizona Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill which would require any presidential candidate to prove to state election officials that he or she was born in the U.S. by presenting a long-form birth certificate, a baptismal or circumcision certificate, a hospital birth record, a postpartum medical record, or an early census record. Trump was involved. Arizona state Rep. Carl Seel (R) scored a meeting with Trump and indicated that “Mr. Trump is very supportive of my bill to just simply require anyone running for president, or, in the case of Arizona, anyone running for any office, to show that they’re lawfully qualified to run.” Last Thursday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives also approved similar legislation. “A lot of people are classifying this as a birther bill which I don’t think it is,” said state Sen. Ralph Shortey (R). “The concern has stemmed from the questions that have arisen from President Obama.” The evidence that Obama has provided so far would not meet the eligibility requirements of Shorte y’s bill and would block him from appearing on the Oklahoma ballot. As David Corn of Mother Jones points out, these proposals are all “part of a well-orchestrated campaign to deny Obama reelection.” Despite their limited legislative success, the birther conspiracy theory isn’t passing legal muster in the courts. In Hawaii, an appeals court upheld the dismissal of a California man’s lawsuit which sought to inspect and review President Obama’s birth certificate.
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: Several conservatives have traditionally been wary of promoting birtherism just to pander to the right. In 2009, conservative talk show host Michael Medved called the movement’s leaders “crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters” who are “the worst enemy of the conservative movement.” “It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company,” declared Medved. Former Minnesota Governor and presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty (R) has dismissed birtherism entirely, stating, “I, for one, do not believe that we should be raising that issue. … I think President Obama was born in the United States.” Karl Rove tried to distance the rest of the GOP from the issue, saying, “The right-wing base of the Republican party, I’m part of that right-wing base, is not in love with the issue of birthers. I mean, there is an element inside the Republican party, and outside the Republican party, that’s fallen in love with this but the majority of Republicans and the vast majority of Americans accept that he is a U.S. citizen capable of being president.” Rove is only partly right. While only 11 percent of the general public believes Obama was definitely not born in the United States, more than half of all GOP primary voters are convinced he is not a U.S.-born citizen. White House senior adviser David Plouffe dismissed Trump’s birther beliefs on Sunday, stating “I saw Donald Trump kind of rising in the polls. Given his behavior, and the spectacle of the last couple of weeks, I hope he keeps on rising. … There’s zero chance that Donald Trump would ever be hired by the American people to do this job.” “If I were them, I’d be really careful riding that birther horse too much,” weighed in former President Bill Clinton. “Everyone knows it’s ludicrous.” Others say it’s just downright racist.
now look at what we have! sigh
sources: Internet , originally posted 2011
Nativegrl77
Be a Seed for Change 
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