Samohi students lead the bag ban
CITY HALL A giant mound of plastic bags slowly made its way before the City Council dais, the rustling sounds of the petroleum-based products rubbing one another mixing in with the chuckles from the people that filled the chamber.
While the speakers before it endorsed a proposed citywide ban on the free distribution of plastic bags by retailers, the self-proclaimed “Plastic Bag Monster” provided a voice in opposition, making the case in favor of his survival.
“I’m opposed to this proposition because if it passes, I will cease to exist,” the monster, which looked like a cross between a miniature landfill and a Christmas tree, said.“One hundred thousand sea animals a year? What is that? I only kill a hundred thousand.”
City Hall’s proposition to get rid of the business community’s inventory of single-use plastic bags — which are often used by grocers, video stores and liquor establishments — has received a groundswell of support from environmental organizations, a notable proportion of which includes high school student clubs.
The sarcastic teenager underneath the pile of plastic bags was Alec Richker, a Santa Monica High School student. In speaking as a plastic bag monster, Richker pointed to some of the detrimental effects of the bags, which students argue often end up in the ocean.
“A billion sea birds? There has to be at least two billion in the world,” Richker said, refer-ring to the statistics on plastic bag-related deaths.“You don’t need that many sea birds.”
The City Council on Tuesday was scheduled to hear a recommendation from of the Environmental Programs Division to draft an ordinance banning single-use plastic bags from all retail establishments and to mandate businesses to impose a fee on paper bags.
The anticipated discussion drew three different Samohi student groups — Team Marine, the Heal the Bay Club and Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) — to the meeting, all participating in a march that took them through the Third Street Promenade all the way to City Hall. It was the second time the students had organized a march in support of a plastic bags ban — the first one took place in late December to coincide with the countywide “Day Without a Bag” efforts.
Due to a pair of earlier discussions that took longer than expected — the landmarking of the trees on Second and Fourth streets and the city’s economic forecast — the council postponed the hearing on the plastic bags to a later meeting, councilmembers saying the item would likely not be heard before midnight.
But a few students were able to make their case for an outright ban earlier in the meeting when the council decided to hear from a few teenagers, allowing the students to finish their homework without sticking around City Hall for hours.
“I believe that every day in Santa Monica can be a day without a bag,”True Shields, the president of the Heal the Bay Club, said. “Our city’s petroleum and oil-based bag addiction has clogged our landfill and contaminated our ocean for too long.”
“The time is right for change,” Shields added.
Zack Gold, a Samohi freshman, said as a scuba diver, he has seen first hand the effects of plastic bags on local beaches.
“I’m proud to live in Santa Monica because this city has always made the environment a top priority,” Gold said.“Tonight, you can make a decision to have the most far-reaching disposable bag ban in the country, if not the world.”
Alberto de Pablo, one of the leaders of SAGE, argued that businesses could save roughly $9,000 a year by cutting plastic bags from their inventory,basing his calculations off a City Hall survey that found 25 local grocers used a total of 23 million plastic bags a year.
“This is $9,000 per year that the business gives away as a free product and polluting our own Santa Monica Bay,” de Pablo said. “Banning these bags will help businesses be at the forefront of the global green business movement.”
In pushing for an ordinance, City Hall is following similar measures taken by cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. While San Francisco city officials passed a ban on non-biodegradable bags, Santa Monica City Hall is proposing a ban on all single-use bags, including ones that are biodegradable. The city of San Francisco has its own municipal composting program to accommodate biodegradable bags.
In the Santa Monica ordinance, city staff is recommending the proposed ordinance include a hardship exemption for businesses that can demonstrate a significant economic impact on their operations.
The students that came out for the council meeting represent the majority of the Samohi student body, according to Benjamin Kay, a marine biology teacher at the high school, adding that teenagers are taking steps to use reusable and bio bags, which are made out of corn and other eco-friendly materials.
“The youth are largely the ones embracing the new ideas, they see how wasteful it is,” Kay said. “Styrofoam packaging and plates (were banned), now we just need to get plastic bags on that same ticket — the ticket to going nowhere.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.