Results tagged “plasticbags”

Orange County's Laguna Beach could be another Californian city to ban the use of plastic bags. Last night the City Council unanimously passed a motion that moves the discussion to the next level, reports the OC Register. Their environmental committee will now look further into the ban, which many believe "will help save both the environment and retailers' bottom lines." Council members want to be certain that local businesses have ample warning time, but also acknowledge the potential for area stores to absorb costs of the ban by selling reusable bags.

Spotted yesterday at Green & Greener in Valley Village, the only general store dedicated to environmentally friendly products in Los Angeles (see our photo tour here). We've always hated going to grocery stores with our reusable bags only to have to use plastic ones for broccoli and lettuce. Problem solved, thank you BYO Bags. Three come in a package and they sell for $10.99.

Since it's a Day Without a Bag today, here's a useful, creative and value added way to make your holiday gifts more environmentally hip. The bags in this video are from Baggu Bags.

An estimated six billion plastic bags are used every year in LA County with the average Californian using 552 of them per year. That's a lot potential harm to the ecosystem, especially when not recycled. The plastic bag industry has made weak arguments to keep the environmentally unfriendly object around, even slapping lawsuits on cities who propose a ban (desperation?).

Now that a their smoking ban will soon be in effect, Pasadena is looking into plastic bags restrictions. "Pasadena's Green City Action Plan, adopted in 2006, calls for the creation of a plastic bag reduction program to support the goal of achieving zero waste to landfills by 2040," reports the Pasadena Star News. Today, the city's Environmental Advisory Commission's Waste Reduction, Transportation and Environmental Health Committee will meet and invites the public to attend and give comment. In regards to other cities, Santa Monica is still considering restrictions while Malibu, Manhattan Beach and Los Angeles have already passed resolutions to reduce plastic bags.

Styrofoam food containers will be banned in city buildings, at LAX, and at city-sponsored events beginning next July and plastic bags will be ordered pulled from store checkout counters July 1, 2010, in accordance with a ban approved today by LA City Council. The decision comes just weeks after a similar measure in Manhattan Beach passed despite the threat of a lawsuit. Malibu banned plastic bags in May and the debate stalled on the issue in Santa Monica earlier this year. In 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags.

Last night, the Manhattan Beach City Council voted and passed a ban on plastic bags, according to the City Clerk's Office. A month ago, the city tried to pass the ordinance, but opposition claimed the city did not go through the correct environmental review processes. Nevertheless, one group said prior to last night's meeting they would probably still sue the city over the new law. The oceanside city joins Malibu and San Francisco in plastic bag bans. Santa Monica is expected to join them later this summer.

After both San Francisco and Malibu successfully passed plastic bag bans in their respective cities, Manhattan Beach is taking up the issue tonight at their City Council meeting. The measure is similar in nature to Malibu's ordinance, but opponents, Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, say the city did not go through the correct process to initiate such a ban and threatens to sue. Another issue to them is that paper bags are not addressed, which they contend are also bad for the environment. Santa Monica is also looking into a bag ban that will also have more regulations on paper bags.

The quarter might become a triple-threat of the coin world soon if LA County and Heal the Bay have their way in Sacramento. Adding to the two biggest reasons why the 25 cent piece is the most coveted piece of cupronickel in your pocket--laundry and parking meters, of course--bill AB 2829 calls for "a mandatory fee on the distribution of single-use plastic shopping bags at all large grocery stores and pharmacies statewide." The bill differs from a previous one by another lawmaker, which called for reductions on a longer-range basis, and is not endorsed by Heal the Bay.

Santa Monica is getting ready to put a drastic bag ban measure on the table next week. Previous musings about a state-level ban have made waves already this year, and the movement by the public to carry reusable bags is steadily gaining momentum.

"Paper or Plastic?" is the somewhat innocuous and expected question we're faced each time we check out at the grocery store. But what if that question came with a price tag, like 15 cents for every plastic bag we required when making a purchase? Or what if we banned the bag altogether?

Why is the Red Line running a little slow Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights? Probably because these orange-vested types are cleaning out the pipes under the tracks. Metro's repair guys and gals send a little camera snaking down the pipes to look for gunk – I'm not sure if "gunk" is the technical term for it, actually – and they follow it with what looks to me like a giant vacuum cleaner.

Yesterday's citywide public relations blitz, "A Day Without a Bag," to bring awareness to our bad habits of using and and ditching paper and plastic bags in the trash was a quaint effort by city and county leaders -- a step in the right direction, as it were. Though, in a nation where the average household consumes 750 plastic bags a year, one day, or two bags, is hardly habit forming.

Heal the Bay gives out free canvas bags for "A Day Without A Disposable Bag Day"

Did you know that residents of Los Angeles County use 6 billion plastic bags a year, and only 5% of bags in the US are recycled? In the state of California the average person uses 552 bags, according to the environmental organization Heal the Bay. These bags are then left to choke up our waterways, landfills, streets, and urban landscapes, causing harm to animal life and our ecosystem. This is why Heal the Bay, along...

Last year I challenged myself to stop using plastic bags at grocery stores by bringing my own reusable ones. After months of forgetting to bring my own bags and kicking my own arse mentally, it is now a natural habit when heading out the door. Now it's time to challenge myself again with reusables. It may make me look like an old crazy bag lady, but it must be done. I must start to make...

After successfully getting into the habit of bringing my own bags to the grocery store and saving 40% on my electric bills with CFLs, it's time to revisit something that was my first step in going green: no more paper throw-aways. This has been one of the easiest, non-thinking green steps ever. So easy, I forgot I was doing it. I invested in about fifteen cloth towels and haven't bought paper napkins or towels in...

Tonight at the Shrine Auditorium, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will bestow the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. This year the Academy has launched their Green With Emmy Campaign. The event features the use of alternative fuel sources for deliveries, hybrid vehicles for talent, recycled paper, a set created from mostly rentals with less construction and waste, staff tuxedo will be dry cleaned with eco friendly solutions and not covered in plastic bags,...

Once while driving down the freeway from Santa Clarita into the LA over the Newhall Pass, I came upon a boat. No, not some truck pulling a boat. But a speed boat sitting in lane one (that's the furthest left lane). It obviously became detached from a vehicle. But where were they? There was no one pulled over looking distraught. DID THEY NOT NOTICE?!!? So I called 911 because that is what you are...

Living in Los Angeles with my dog Skeela has made me keenly aware of shit. Every day I wrap my hand in some sort of petro-chemical barrier, scoop up whatever solid matter has fallen out of my canine, tie a knot in a hand-to-shit barrier bag to seal off the stench, and then proceed to dispose of it cleanly in the nearest appropriate receptacle. My dog eats a well-balanced diet with plenty of whole...

One had never seen so much commotion on Robertson Boulevard, even on a day when Paris or Lindsey are nowhere in sight. Yesterday British designer Anya Hindmarch's limited edition, ecologically-friendly bag took center stage. All this for $15!! I had heard of the first edition of these bags long after they had sold out. I checked out the website to see what all the fuss was about. There one could register for the waiting...

This dog delivers beer! Click here to find out how.
Photo by C-Monster.

Larry Birkhead to World: I told you so! Sleazy paparazzo beats off human parasite, fake prince, former bodyguard and clump of seaweed to prove he's Anna-Nicole's baby-daddy. -TMZ

Howard Stern cozies up to Birkhead, says Papa Larry can spend as much time as he wants with little Mealticketlynn. World's #1 Mom Virgie Arthur expected to sue for custory. -TMZ

MSNBC punishes Don Imus with two-week vacation. Rutgers players still pissed, would love to meet with radio host to personally express their "hurt, anger and disgust." -AP

34-year-old Girls Gone Wild founder Joe "take your top off, sweetie" Francis arrested in Panama City, Florida airport early this morning on a warrant for criminal contempt of court. Who knew he was 6'2"? -Extra TV (Mugshot courtesy of AP Photo/Bay County Sheriff's Office)

With more than $400 million in unmet needs, the LA County Department of Parks and Rec unveils "Adopt-A-Park" plan to allow private businesses to "adopt" parks in South Los Angeles. Your neighborhood park just got pwned. -CBS2

Coast Guard still searching for two people swept off jetty in Corona del Mar. -LA Times

Google starts mapping genocide. - CNN

Awww, isn’t it cute how Los Angeles keeps imitating San Francisco? LA county officials consider banning plastic bags. No word on how this will affect Joan Rivers. - LA Times

2nd shooting in less than a month at Chicago high school. Maybe it was a bad idea to make Target Practice an elective. -AP

6:30 A.M. 3.5 magnitude temblor rattles folks in Ventura County. -ABC7

Some f*@%$in a#$%hole thinks "open and uncensored" blogs need warning labels. Cuz it’s not like you're ever gonna hear rude words at home, in movies, on the street, at your friends' homes, on television, in books… -BBC

Dennis Blunden, the fat, snarky kid from 80s sitcom Head of the Class, is the programming genius behind Nickolodeon's tween TV empire. -NY Times

It's raining rats, courtesy of a KFC/Taco Bell in Manhattan (that would be New York City). -Fox News

Shocking News! Diets don't work. Eating sensibly and exercising moderately does. -BBC (& common sense)

Quote Of the Day: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers explains why the American public couldn’t possibly love a fat man, and why it makes perfect sense to cast a rail-thin, dark-haired pretty boy as an obese, red-bearded monarch:

"You're trying to sell a historical period drama to a country like America, you don't want a big, fat, 250 pounds, red haired guy with a beard. It doesn't let people embrace the fantastic monarch he was, because they're not attracted to the package. Heroes do not look like Henry VIII. That is just the world we live in."
--WENN/IMDB

LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. Uncanny as it is, they are written in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest.

"San Francisco has the wherewithal to charge that much. San Francisco has a different income group," Reyes said. "Here in Los Angeles, I would rather work with the industry before we get into that."

Let's face it -- LAist knows that getting your caffiene-buzz on a Monday morning is tough enough simply because it's a Monday morning. But having to decide where to go, if there's enough parking, how quickly you can do it and which route to take are all legitimate and complicated decisions. But when competition becomes so crazy that the same unnamed beanery puts one of their stores directly across the street from another one of their stores...well, it's time for a bean-battle the likes of which no mere mortal has ever seen.