Save The Plastic Bag

MARINE SCIENTISTS REPORT THAT THE CONCENTRATION OF PLASTIC IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN HAS NOT INCREASED AT ALL IN THE LAST 22 YEARS AND THAT THE AMOUNT OF PLASTIC IS NEGLIGIBLE
The Sea Education Association based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts (which is not affiliated with the plastic industry in any way) has surveyed plastic debris in the Atlantic Ocean for the past 22 years. They are now reporting that the concentration of plastic in the Atlantic Ocean has not increased over the past 22 years, despite the increased production of plastics during that period. They were surprised to find that there was no overall change in the amount of plastic snared from 1986 to 2008.
Karen Lavender, an oceanographer at the Sea Education Association said:

"I expected to see the line go right up. It took us a good year to decide no, we have not seen an increase, no matter how you slice it."

Each half-hour trawl in the area where the concentration was the highest typically turned up just 20 tiny pieces, equivalent to about 0.3 grams in all. By comparison, a U.S. nickel weighs 5 grams.
Nobody should expect anti-plastic bag campaigners such as Heal the Bay or Californians Against Waste to be publicizing this report, which is unfortunate.
Click here and here to read more about the Sea Education Association's findings.

THE "PLASTIKI" VESSEL CROSSED THE PACIFIC OCEAN TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE GARBAGE PATCH, SO WHERE ARE THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE GARBAGE PATCH?

IS THERE A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE?

We are told repeatedly by environmental groups that there is an island of floating trash including plastic bags in the Pacific that is the size of Texas. They call it a "garbage patch." In an editorial on June 24, 2010, the Los Angeles Times stated:

"The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of the ocean larger than Texas and thick with floating plastic debris: bottles, bottle caps, bits of packaging and uncountable plastic bags."

Texas is huge -- 267,338 square miles to be exact. (California is a mere 163,707 square miles.) An area of floating garbage that large, thick with plastic bottles and plastic bags, would be hard to miss and easy to photograph.

We have been unable to find any photographs of it, despite the fact that ships sail through the area all the time, including vessels sent out there by environmental groups to photograph it. In order to prove its existence, environmental groups sent a vessel called the Plastiki from San Francisco to Sydney, passing through the area where the patch is supposed to be. The Plastiki arrived in Sydney on July 25, 2010. You can view all of the photographs that the crew took during the voyage. Not a single photograph shows a garbage patch!

We recognize that small pieces of debris would not be visible in a photograph. However, among the small bits of debris there would also be a substantial amount of intact garbage including plastic bags and plastic bottles. Garbage doesn't break down instantly in the ocean. We find the total lack of photographs of a massive area of visible garbage in the ocean to be mysterious.

Check Bing images or Google images and other websites to see if you can find a photograph of any large areas of ocean that include visible garbage. Look carefully at the photographs and videos to make sure that it's not an isolated beach or a selected small area of garbage or debris. We are looking for something really huge -- the size of Texas. If you can find a photograph of it, please help us with our research by sending it to us. We appreciate your help.

We are not suggesting that there is no trash in the ocean. Of course there is. We are merely asking questions. It is always legitimate to ask questions.

If you come across some videos, be aware that many are sensationalized with selectively edited footage and dramatic background music designed to trigger an emotional response. Look at everything with a critical eye.

While you are looking at the images and videos, if you see a picture of a trawl device or sample jar with small debris in it, try to find out how many miles were trawled to collect that amount. If you are not told, then you should be asking why not. There is a world of difference between an instant scoop up from the ocean and dragging a trawl device behind a vessel for 24 hours. And if any or many scoops came up empty, are those being shown to you?

Check the video below to see how much garbage was collected by another environmental group from a 24 hour trawl over 50 miles through the "garbage patch." Can you see any garbage in the ocean? Ask yourself if the amount of debris collected over 24 hours and 50 miles of trawling is a sufficient justification to ban plastic bags.

(Note that the sample jar at the end of the video does not only contain debris. It appears to have at least two fish in it.)

THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH

BANNING PLASTIC BAGS WOULD RESULT IN A MAJOR
INCREASE IN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

WHY ARE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS AND CALIFORNIA EPA REMAINING SILENT ABOUT THIS?

What impact would banning plastic bags have on global warming? It would result in a switch to paper bags, which would be worse for the environment! Paper bags result in between 2.0 and 3.3 times more greenhouse gas emissions over their life cycle than plastic bags based on equalized carrying capacity (1 paper bag = 1.5 plastic bags). There are numerous studies confirming that paper bags are significantly worse for the environment than plastic bags, including the Scottish report and the Boustead report.

The annual CO2 impact of banning plastic bags statewide and replacing them with paper bags would be equivalent to adding the annual CO2 emissions of between 92,280 and 212,243 passenger vehicles. We encourage you to click here to read a short paper on the huge impact of banning plastic bags on greenhouse gases including how the figures are calculated. It is about a two minute read.

A pulp and paper mill

Banning plastic bags in California would have the same CO2 impact
annually as between 92,280 and 212,243 passenger vehicles.

OUR FIGHT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TRUTH HAS NOW REACHED THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT

An editorial in the London Times states:

"There is a danger that the green herd, in pursuit of a good cause, stumbles into misguided campaigns….

Analysis without facts is guesswork. Sloppy analysis of bad science is worse. Poor interpretation of good science wastes time and impedes the fight against obnoxious behavior. There is no place for bad science, or weak analysis, in the search for credible answers to difficult questions….

Many of those who have demonized plastic bags have enlisted scientific study to their cause. By exaggerating a grain of truth into a larger falsehood, they spread misinformation and abuse the trust of their unwitting audiences."

David Laist, a senior policy analyst with the federal Marine Mammal Commission, has stated:

"In their eagerness to make their case [against plastic bags], some of the environmental groups make up claims that are not really supportable."

The purpose of our campaign is to respond to the environmental myths, exaggerations and misinformation that have been spread about plastic bags. We believe that environmental decisions should be based on the truth.

As a result of misinformation, many people believe that plastic bags kill 100,000 sea mammals and a million seabirds each year. The media is relentlessly spreading this misinformation. The San Jose Mercury News recently stated in an editorial: "Plastic bags kill an estimated 1 million seabirds and 100,000 other animals every year, whether from eating the things or getting tangled in them." NOT TRUE. The London Times has exposed this as a myth based on a typographical error! The report on which the myth is based mentioned discarded fishing tackle including fishing nets, not plastic bags.

David Santillo, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told The Times: “It’s very unlikely that many animals are killed by plastic bags. The evidence shows just the opposite." (Click here.)

In a report by the US National Ocean Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the authors state (at page 9): "There are very few, if any, published records of small plastics as the direct cause of mortality in sea turtles."
Los Angeles County is asserting that "as much as 25 percent of the litter stream" is plastic carryout bags. (LA County Initial Study at pages 1-3 and 3.9-5.) NOT TRUE. The assertion is ridiculous. Anyone can see with their own eyes that it is not true. A San Francisco Department of the Environment litter audit conducted before plastic bags were banned in that city showed that plastic bags were only 0.6% of the litter stream. The Florida figure is 0.72%. The Toronto figure is 0.13% (page 35 of Toronto study). (Click here.)
Two LA County Supervisors claim: "About $375 million is spent in California on cleanups and other efforts to mitigate the environmental effect of disposable bags, costing each household about $200." NOT TRUE. The Supervisors are apparently unable to do simple arithmetic. The population of California is 36.4 million. $375 million divided by 36.4 million is $10.30 per person. Moreover, $375 million is the entire litter budget for cleaning up all kinds of litter, not just plastic bags. Plastic bags are less than 1% of litter, which means that the annual cost per person is 10 cents! (Click here.)
Save The Bay makes the following claim in a press release: "It is estimated that about one million of these [plastic] bags wind up in the Bay each year where they pollute the water, smother wetlands and entangle and kill animals." NOT TRUE. This is just a headline grabbing statistic invented by Save The Bay. It has no basis in fact. We have not seen any plastic bags in the bay and U.S. Coast Guard personnel who cruise the bay every day tell us that they have not seen any either. (This is discussed further below.)
As a result of misinformation, many people believe that plastic bags are made of oil. NOT TRUE. They are made of ethane which is a waste product from domestically produced natural gas. If the ethane is not used to make plastic bags, it will have to be burned off. (Click here.)
As a result of misinformation, many people believe that plastic bags are not recyclable. NOT TRUE. Special plastic bag recycling bins have been installed in large supermarkets and retail stores throughout California since 2007. Virtually all of the plastic bags deposited in those bins are actually recycled. (Click here.)
As a result of misinformation, many people believe that plastic bags "clog up" landfills. NOT TRUE. According to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, plastic bags (including retail bags) use up only 0.4% of landfill space. (Click here.)
As a result of misinformation, many people believe that it is a disadvantage that plastic bags "last a thousand years" in landfills. NOT TRUE. In fact it is an advantage! Governments have been searching for ways to sequester and trap CO2 underground so that it doesn't escape into the atmosphere. Plastic does it automatically! Decomposing paper in landfills produces methane which is a greenhouse gas with 23 times the heat trapping power of CO2. (Click here.)
As a result of misinformation, many people believe that paper bags are better for the environment than plastic bags. NOT TRUE. Paper bags result in between 2.0 and 3.3 times more greenhouse gases than plastic bags. The life cycle of paper bags results in far more water and air pollution and other negative environmental impacts than the life cycle of plastic bags. Paper is not an environmentally friendly product by any stretch of the imagination. (Click here.)
Anti-plastic bag activists claim that the global warming impact of increasing paper bag usage is not significant. NOT TRUE. Banning plastic carryout bags throughout California would have the same annual impact on greenhouse gas emissions as adding between 92,280 and 212,243 passenger vehicles. (Click here.)

There is no substantial basis for banning plastic bags based on truthful environmental considerations. Why ban something without a good reason? Anti-plastic bag activists idealize about everyone bringing their own reusable bags to stores if plastic bags are banned. However, they are not being realistic. In San Francisco, where plastic bags have been banned in certain stores, papers bags (rather than reusable bags) have replaced them. Paper bags are far worse for the environment than plastic bags. Banning plastic bags will harm the environment.

On January 27, 2010, the California Court of Appeal issued its decision in Save The Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach. The court ruled that we had presented "substantial evidence" that paper bags are significantly worse for the environment than plastic bags and that the city should therefore have prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) before banning plastic bags. (Click here to read the Court of Appeal decision.)

Anti-plastic bag campaigners have attacked the court's decision saying that an EIR is unnecessary. The City of Manhattan Beach and other cities and counties says that environmental information provided by anti-plastic bag campaigners can be trusted absolutely and that there is no need to verify their information in an EIR. We strongly disagree. Environmental groups are campaigners advocating and arguing for or against an issue. They are not neutrals. They cannot be trusted to present both sides of the story. They never talk about the environmental impacts of paper bags. They create statistics that have no basis in fact (as we show on this website). They use selective photography (as we show on this website). They have spread so much negative hype and misinformation about plastic bags and misinformed so many people including important decision-makers that an EIR is desperately needed.

California city and county staff tailor the facts in their staff reports to fit the conclusion they want to achieve - banning plastic bags. Anything that does not support the goal of banning plastic bags is left out or distorted. Anyone who believes that city and county staff would never engage in such tactics should read the fact section of our brief in the Manhattan Beach case which is based on documentary evidence in the record. It is a real eye-opener.

City and county staff reports are not subject to any legal standards or controls. That is why we are adamant that EIRs must be prepared. EIRs must be based on "substantial evidence."

Two environmental groups are leading the anti-plastic bag campaign, Heal the Bay and Californians Against Waste. They wrote letters to the California Supreme Court asking for the Court of Appeal decision to be reversed. (Click here and here to read their letters.) Who ever heard of environmentalists opposing an EIR? We believe that they are are greatly fearful of an EIR, because it will expose their environmental claims to scrutiny and call into question their credibility. They know that their supporters automatically believe everything that they say. They would like that comfortable situation to continue.

EIRs are required by the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). CEQA was enacted in 1970. It was signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan. One of his famous signature phrases was: "Trust, but verify."

The Manhattan Beach case is now pending in the California Supreme Court. We are hopeful that the Court of Appeal's decision will be affirmed. That would be a great victory for environmental truth.

THREE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORTS ARE BEING PREPARED

LOS ANGELES COUNTY: In 2009, Los Angeles County issued an Initial Study and determined that banning plastic bags may have a significant negative effect on the environment and that an EIR must therefore be prepared.) In June 2010, Los Angeles County issued its draft EIR.

CITY OF SANTA MONICA: Santa Monica issued an Initial Study and determined that banning plastic bags may have a significant effect on the environment. In June 2010, Santa Monica has issued its draft EIR.

CITY OF SAN JOSE: San Jose has issued its draft EIR.

The City of Palo Alto has agreed to prepare an EIR before banning plastic bags at any more stores. (Its present ban affects only four stores.)

Green Cities California has published a Master Environmental Assessment intended to assist cities and counties in preparing their EIRs.

This is all very good news in our campaign for environmental truth. It is a direct result of our CEQA demands and our litigation.

SAVE THE BAY CLAIMS THAT A MILLION PLASTIC BAGS POLLUTE THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY EACH YEAR

FACT OR FICTION?

WE ASKED THE U.S. COAST GUARD

Save The Bay makes the following claim in a press release: "It is estimated that about one million of these [plastic] bags wind up in the Bay each year where they pollute the water, smother wetlands and entangle and kill animals."

We sent an e-mail to Save The Bay asking for the basis for the claim. They have not responded.

Save The Bay engaged in an annual litter cleanup at ten litter hotspots on land around the bay, including areas where significant illegal dumping had occurred. They found a lot of litter including plastic bags on land at those spots. (Plastic bags are a small percentage of total litter but Save The Bay only reports figures for plastic bags.) Save The Bay doesn't report any plastic bags found in the bay. We acknowledge that some plastic bags must find their way into the bay, but a figure of 1 million per year is just sensationalism. Save The Bay does a lot of wonderful work to protect the bay, but it has no business inventing headline statistics that are cynically intended to draw media attention to its press releases and mislead decision-makers and the public.

We decided to visit the U.S. Coast Guard base on Yerba Buena Island under the Bay Bridge. They have vessels based there that cruise the bay every day. Their crew members spend more time on the bay than anyone. They told us that they have never seen a plastic bag in the bay. They know nothing about any animals being killed by plastic bags.

We are based next to the San Francisco Bay, near Fisherman's Wharf where thousands of plastic bags are given to tourists each day. We have visited multiple spots all around the bay including litter hotspots. We have surveyed the bay by taking multiple ferries between San Francisco and Marin County. We have never seen a plastic bag in the bay. We have never heard of an animal being entangled or killed by a plastic bag in the bay. We have not been able to find any photographs of a large number of plastic bags in the bay.

Here are two photographs that we took of the bay. The first was taken from a ferry. Where are the plastic bags?