Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced a proposal to expand San Francisco's ban on single-use plastic bags in San Francisco. We need your support to counter the "Plastic Bag Bullies" who want to prevent cities and states from improving environmental quality and protecting ocean health.
The proposal would "extend the restrictions on checkout bags from supermarkets and chain pharmacies to all retail establishments and food establishments in the City and County of San Francisco." The new ban would "require stores to add a checkout bag charge of 10 cents, rising to 25 cents, if they provide a customer with a checkout bag" and those fees would start July 1, 2012.
Contact Mayor Lee's office and ask him to support the bag ban and fee proposal for San Francisco! http://sfmayor.org/index.aspx?page=7 Mayor Lee has stated that he is undecided so he needs to hear from San Francisco residents and visitors that we want this bag ban to grow.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote tomorrow. Please contact them with your support. Email them your comments: Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov.org
If you're available, please come to testify in support of the proposed ban and fees for bags. The board will vote after 2PM tomorrow (Tuesday, 11/22) in the main chambers at City Hall.
San Francisco needs this bag ban! Other countries and cities have dramatically reduced single-use plastic and it's time for San Francisco to catch up. Our oceans deserve to be healthier and anything we can do to reduce plastic marine debris will help.
Showing posts with label garbage patch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garbage patch. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2011
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Plastic pollution on your seafood plate
ABC Report: Plastic pollution entering the food chain as fish gobble up the Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean
Increasingly, fish are being discovered with toxic plastic in their stomachs as researchers investigate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Plastics attract other chemical pollutants that are getting into the food chain. We were already concerned about mercury and other contaminants in bigger fish, but even smaller fish are mistaking plastic for food. With more plastic than plankton in some parts of the ocean, our oceans are increasingly unhealthy. Pick your seafood wisely and avoid the most polluted and unsustainable fish.
Remember to show your love for the ocean and use less plastic! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=42931894006
Increasingly, fish are being discovered with toxic plastic in their stomachs as researchers investigate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Plastics attract other chemical pollutants that are getting into the food chain. We were already concerned about mercury and other contaminants in bigger fish, but even smaller fish are mistaking plastic for food. With more plastic than plankton in some parts of the ocean, our oceans are increasingly unhealthy. Pick your seafood wisely and avoid the most polluted and unsustainable fish.
Remember to show your love for the ocean and use less plastic! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=42931894006
Monday, December 15, 2008
December 18 “Day without a Bag” Asks Shoppers to Give to the Environment
December 18 “Day without a Bag” Asks Shoppers to Give to the Environment
Volunteers Give Reusable Bags and Get Shoppers to Say No to Plastic Bags
For Immediate Release
Contact: Eli Saddler, Director of OceanHealth.Org, 415-342-7497, eli@oceanhealth.org
Wes Womack, President of San Francisco Surfrider , 510-717-7204, wesw@sfsurfrider.org
San Francisco, CA, December 18, 2008 – On Thursday, December 18, the San Francisco Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and OceanHealth.Org will be asking Christmas shoppers to participate in “A Day without a Bag.” “A Day without a Bag” is becoming a holiday tradition as environmental groups ask shoppers to say “no” when offered plastic bags and to remember to bring their own bags when shopping. To mark “A Day without a Bag,” volunteers will be handing out hundreds of reusable shopping bags to shoppers from noon until about 2 PM on Thursday, December 18, at Union Square in San Francisco. Volunteers will be distributing reusable bags donated by Surfrider and Whole Foods Markets as an alternative to single-use plastic bags.
“Many people remember reusable bags for grocery shopping, but this day is a reminder to holiday shoppers to bring bags when going to any store,” said Eli Saddler, Director of OceanHealth.Org and Surfrider volunteer. “Holiday shoppers can give back to the environment by saying, ‘no,’ when offered single-use plastic bags.”
Although San Francisco passed a plastic bag ban for grocery stores, more still needs to be done to educate consumers about reducing their consumption of single-use plastic bags. Worldwide, 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually, which means that a million plastic bags are being used each minute. Annually, a million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die globally due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics.
“Bags and other plastic items clog our beaches with pollution and harm wildlife,” said chapter president, Wes Womack. “It is great that we live in a city that bans plastic bags on some level, but we can all do more to cut down on single-use plastic items to reduce pollution on our beaches and in our ocean.”
Surfrider will be holding its next monthly beach cleanup at Stairwell 17 on Ocean Beach this coming Sunday, December 21, from 10 AM until 12 PM. Volunteers can give back to the oceans by helping remove man-made debris from the beaches, some of which is currently be gathered for art projects. For more information on this and other monthly beach cleanups, people can visit Surfrider’s website (http://www.sfsurfrider.org/).
Surfrider and OceanHealth.Org are promoting “December 18 – A Day without a Bag” online, also (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36865929853). In an effort to reach as many people as possible from around the world, the organizations hope that people will get the word and learn more about eliminating plastic bags and other items.
People can learn more about the event and its history at Heal the Bay's website (http://www.healthebay.org/nobagday/)
# # #
About the San Francisco Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation: SF Surfrider is a volunteer organization of surfers and ocean enthusiasts that promotes environmental quality of our beaches and oceans. The San Francisco Chapter is one of many local chapters of the international nonprofit organization, the Surfrider Foundation, based in San Clemente, CA. Surfrider Foundation’s San Francisco Chapter holds bi-monthly beach cleanups at Ocean Beach; cleanup times can be found on their website: http://www.sfsurfrider.org/
About OceanHealth.Org: OceanHealth.Org is a nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which works to promote ocean conservation and public health protection through education, advocacy, and science. http://www.oceanhealth.org
Volunteers Give Reusable Bags and Get Shoppers to Say No to Plastic Bags
For Immediate Release
Contact: Eli Saddler, Director of OceanHealth.Org, 415-342-7497, eli@oceanhealth.org
Wes Womack, President of San Francisco Surfrider , 510-717-7204, wesw@sfsurfrider.org
San Francisco, CA, December 18, 2008 – On Thursday, December 18, the San Francisco Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and OceanHealth.Org will be asking Christmas shoppers to participate in “A Day without a Bag.” “A Day without a Bag” is becoming a holiday tradition as environmental groups ask shoppers to say “no” when offered plastic bags and to remember to bring their own bags when shopping. To mark “A Day without a Bag,” volunteers will be handing out hundreds of reusable shopping bags to shoppers from noon until about 2 PM on Thursday, December 18, at Union Square in San Francisco. Volunteers will be distributing reusable bags donated by Surfrider and Whole Foods Markets as an alternative to single-use plastic bags.
“Many people remember reusable bags for grocery shopping, but this day is a reminder to holiday shoppers to bring bags when going to any store,” said Eli Saddler, Director of OceanHealth.Org and Surfrider volunteer. “Holiday shoppers can give back to the environment by saying, ‘no,’ when offered single-use plastic bags.”
Although San Francisco passed a plastic bag ban for grocery stores, more still needs to be done to educate consumers about reducing their consumption of single-use plastic bags. Worldwide, 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually, which means that a million plastic bags are being used each minute. Annually, a million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die globally due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics.
“Bags and other plastic items clog our beaches with pollution and harm wildlife,” said chapter president, Wes Womack. “It is great that we live in a city that bans plastic bags on some level, but we can all do more to cut down on single-use plastic items to reduce pollution on our beaches and in our ocean.”
Surfrider will be holding its next monthly beach cleanup at Stairwell 17 on Ocean Beach this coming Sunday, December 21, from 10 AM until 12 PM. Volunteers can give back to the oceans by helping remove man-made debris from the beaches, some of which is currently be gathered for art projects. For more information on this and other monthly beach cleanups, people can visit Surfrider’s website (http://www.sfsurfrider.org/).
Surfrider and OceanHealth.Org are promoting “December 18 – A Day without a Bag” online, also (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=36865929853). In an effort to reach as many people as possible from around the world, the organizations hope that people will get the word and learn more about eliminating plastic bags and other items.
People can learn more about the event and its history at Heal the Bay's website (http://www.healthebay.org/nobagday/)
# # #
About the San Francisco Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation: SF Surfrider is a volunteer organization of surfers and ocean enthusiasts that promotes environmental quality of our beaches and oceans. The San Francisco Chapter is one of many local chapters of the international nonprofit organization, the Surfrider Foundation, based in San Clemente, CA. Surfrider Foundation’s San Francisco Chapter holds bi-monthly beach cleanups at Ocean Beach; cleanup times can be found on their website: http://www.sfsurfrider.org/
About OceanHealth.Org: OceanHealth.Org is a nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which works to promote ocean conservation and public health protection through education, advocacy, and science. http://www.oceanhealth.org
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Find a beach near you for Coastal Cleanup Day!
International Coastal Cleanup Day
Find a beach near you and give back to the ocean!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
9:00am - 12:00pm
Ocean Beach
Taraval St. and the Great Highway
San Francisco, CA
Sept. 20th will be International Coastal Cleanup Day around the world. If you're here in the Bay Area, please join me at the Taraval St. entrance to Ocean Beach (along the Great Highway).
If you're not in the Bay Area, please find a beach near you and do your part for cleaner oceans. Sea turtles and other wildlife are killed and injured by marine debris each year so you can help save sea turtles by removing potentially harmful trash.
Don't live near a beach? Why not do your part that day to avoid purchasing any plastic goods - especially plastic bags - and do your part to reduce waste.
Find a beach near you and give back to the ocean!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
9:00am - 12:00pm
Ocean Beach
Taraval St. and the Great Highway
San Francisco, CA
Sept. 20th will be International Coastal Cleanup Day around the world. If you're here in the Bay Area, please join me at the Taraval St. entrance to Ocean Beach (along the Great Highway).
If you're not in the Bay Area, please find a beach near you and do your part for cleaner oceans. Sea turtles and other wildlife are killed and injured by marine debris each year so you can help save sea turtles by removing potentially harmful trash.
Don't live near a beach? Why not do your part that day to avoid purchasing any plastic goods - especially plastic bags - and do your part to reduce waste.
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