GREEN FOCUS:
Cool Things That Are Green
Bag It! the Movie Playing in Portland March 3rd to 14th (watch trailer)3/04/2011Bag It! is a story that follows Jeb Berrier, an average American guy who is admittedly not a “tree hugger,” who makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags. This simple action gets Jeb thinking about all kinds of plastic as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. When Jeb’s journey takes a personal twist, we see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.
BAG IT is a film that examines our society’s use and abuse of plastic. The film focuses on plastic as it relates to our society’s throwaway mentality, our culture of convenience, our over consumption of unnecessary, disposable products and packaging—things that we use one time and then, without another thought, throw them away. Where is AWAY?? Away is over flowing landfills, clogged rivers, islands of trash in our oceans, and even our very own toxic bodies. Jeb travels the globe on a fact-finding mission—not realizing that after his simple resolution, plastic will never look the same again!
Tickets: Adults $7, Seniors and Kids 4-12 $5. They can be purchased on HollywoodTheatre.org
Where: Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard, Portland. 97212
When: March 3-14th nightly at 7pm and 5pm weekend matinees
THE BILL
Oregonians use an estimated 1.7 billion plastic checkout bags every year. Plastic pollution has become a critical problem in our oceans, with as much as 100 million tons now polluting the North Pacific alone. Plastic never biodegrades; it only photo-degrades into smaller and smaller bits, strangling, suffocating and poisoning sea life, including whales, fish and birds. SB 536 would ban single use plastic checkout bags at all retail outlets in Oregon.
In addition, plastic bags cost municipalities around the state millions of taxpayer dollars in sewer maintenance and recycling facility repair. Plastic bags are also a nuisance in rural communities as they entangle farm equipment and get caught up in fencing. Cities, counties, and countries around the world are implementing bag fees and bans to address this problem.
According to the Huffington Post, Oregon grocers and environmental groups are already lining up to support the proposed statewide ban on single-use plastic checkout bags.
The proposed ban would take effect by November, 2011, and require at least a nickel charge on recycled paper checkout bags. The charge is designed to let stores recover the cost of the paper bags and encourage shoppers to switch to reusable bags. The bill is supported by the Northwest Grocery Association, retailer Fred Meyer, environmental groups and others.
The Oregonian reports that if the proposal clears the Legislature next year, Oregon would likely be the first state to adopt a statewide ban.
The proposal would exempt pharmacies, restaurants and other shops whose main businesses is preparing food and drink.
Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.