Charlie Eckberg, UCSB Alumni, with speakers and student leaders

It seems appropriate that UC Santa Barbara, home of one of the oldest environmental studies programs in the nation, would also be home to an incredibly active group of students working to release their community from dependence on disposable plastics. UCSB students will serve as a model for campuses around the world, as members of the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s new Plastic Free Campuses program.

The Plastic Free Campuses program will identify student groups at schools around the world that are responding to the multiple threats of plastic pollution and embracing sustainability by taking steps to measurably reduce their campuses plastic footprint. At UCSB, a variety of student groups have come together to call themselves the UCSB Plastic Pollution Coalition. As a member of the Plastic Free Campuses , the UCSB-PPC joins schools in Peru, Colombia, Japan, South Australia, and Spain that have made a commitment to reducing their plastic footprint. To register, a school needs only to have an existing initiative addressing the issues of plastic pollution on campus or in the community.

PPC Executive Director Daniella Russo with UCSB seniors, Ally Gialketsis and Matt Gilliland

Last week, students at UC Santa Barbara organized a week of activities as part of the annual ‘UCSB Reads’ program, which “encourages a common reading and intellectual experience for the community,” according to the specially printed forward of the book “Moby Duck”, by Donovan Hohn, 2,500 copies of which were distributed for free at the UCSB library last week.

The community focus on plastic pollution is in part, recognition of the work being done by several campus organizations that have joined efforts in their work to bring the issue to the fore of discussion on campus and in the community of Santa Barbara. The group, which calls itself the UCSB Plastic Pollution Coalition, is formed in part by the Associated Students Coastal Fund, CALPIRG, the Isla Vista Surfrider Foundation, and the UCSB Environmental Affairs Board. Additionally, the UCSB Reads program is supported by academic departments across many disciplines at UCSB, as well as several community partners.

It is this kind of cross-disciplinary, student led effort that PPC seeks to support with the global Plastic Free Campuses program. Why students? Matt Gilliland, UCSB senior and Oceans Campaign Coordinator for CALPIRG UCSB, says, “The Santa Barbara community is full of concerned citizens, but they need something to mobilize around. A force of young students that are committed to building a better community will spark a movement. We’ll lead by demonstration – getting plastics off of our campus to show that it can be done.”

Students helped build a Rubber Ducky with local org, Art from Scrap

In addition to the distribution of 2,500 copies of “Moby Duck,” last weeks activities included a visit by the author, lectures and panels related to the book, and the building of a giant rubber ducky out of ocean trash, organized by the local organization Art from Scrap. The week concluded with a press conference highlighting campus and local community efforts to deal with plastic pollution. PPC’s Executive Director, Daniella Russo, took the opportunity to announce the official launch of the global Plastic Free Campuses program.

Kathleen Reddington, of the Carpinteria City council, spoke about her own communities success in banning plastic bags, commended the students of UCSB for taking this on, and encouraged the entire UC system to follow the trend. Last semester, UCSB student volunteers collected over 3,000 signatures from the community in support of plastic bag bans on campus and in the community of Santa Barbara, their goal is to have 6,000 signatures by the end of the school year.

“I want to be able to tangibly see the effects of my work,” says Ryan McInerney, a senior in Environmental Studies and Political Science, who joined student volunteers in helping to gather signatures on Friday. Ryan has researched and written about the issues of plastic pollution, but is happy to be outside, engaging peers in the issue, and working to take action.

In the coming months, UCSB will host a variety of activities on campus, including ‘Day without a bag’, a reusable bag swap, and a sustainable vendors fair. In addition, UCSB is working on installing hydration stations across the campus. Two pilot stations have been installed, and a proposal for 40 more across the campus is being developed.

“The PPC provides an outlet for us to show the rest of the world that a plastic-free campus is a very tangible goal.” Says Ally Gialketsis, a senior at UCSB and Plastics Coordinator and Co-chair for Isla Vista Surfrider Foundation. “Students are driven and motivated by the issue of plastic pollution, and the PPC is the best way for students to put that energy towards their goal in the most efficient and constructive way possible.”

For more information about the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s Plastic Free Campuses program, visit http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/projects/plastic-free-campuses/

See more photos from the event on facebook (and join the PPC page while your at it!)

See a VIDEO of the event, produced by UCSB’s Bottom Line.

Other coverage of the UCSB Reads week:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-spiegl/plastic-free-campuses_b_1232904.html

http://www.celsias.com/article/university-california-takes-plastic-problem/

http://www.dailynexus.com/2012-01-10/yearly-free-book-program-tackles-plastic-pollution/

http://eco-runner.blogspot.com/2012/01/university-of-california-takes-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eco-runner+%28Eco-Runner%29

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=78641

Meet Andy Keller if you haven’t met him already in the streets or in the press wearing his creation, the Bag Monster, a costume made of 500 plastic bags, the amount of plastic bags used by the average American every year.

Or maybe you know him through his other creation, the ChicoBag, a clever reusable bag that conveniently folds or stuffs into a small attached pouch, so you can easily travel with several at all times for your shopping needs.

If you didn’t know him before now, you might thank Hilex Poly, a bag supplier to WalMart among other major retailers, and likely the largest disposable plastic bag company in the world, for making Mr. Keller a media darling, and the subject of this article summarizing the conclusion of an epic battle between the plastic bag giants and Mr. Keller’s reusable ChicoBag alternative.

Andy Keller invented the Bag Monster as an educational tool when he got sick and tired of seeing plastic bags flying around and about in his hometown of Chico, California like so many restless ghosts of shopping excursions past. A trip to his local landfill showed him that a fence around the dump could not contain the plastics bags that would simply blow up and out. That’s when he decided to design a reusable alternative that is easy to store in a purse, briefcase or even attach to a keychain so the answer to the question posed to us every day as “paper or plastic” can be “neither, I have my own bag.”

Not only did Andy design a great bag, but he designed a great website with information about the environmental harms of single-use disposable paper and plastic bags and other plastic items that end up in the environment as plastic pollution, often after just one use. Apparently, the success of his product and Andy’s ability to attract attention to the environmental consequences of single-use plastic shopping bags was not appreciated by the disposable plastic bag manufacturers. Although Andy’s company is small, employing 30 people today, three of the largest domestic plastic bag manufacturers, including Hilex Poly, joined together to sue Andy for “irreparably harming their business,” accusing Andy of misrepresenting the facts regarding the environmental impacts of single-use plastics. Not new to litigation, these same plastic bag manufacturers were also plaintiffs in lawsuits against municipalities for passing plastic bag bans or fees.

The bag manufacturers filed in the State of South Carolina, on the opposite coast from Andy’s company, where unlike in California, there is no protection against SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Suits, or frivolous lawsuits filed by plaintiffs to utilize their economic advantage, by imposing litigation costs on a critic, to silence the defendant.

The legal fees for ChicoBag to defend the plastic bag manufacturers’ lawsuit through trial were expected to exceed one million dollars. Andy’s insurance company was able to help level the playing field a bit, covering the majority of the legal costs. Nonetheless, this lawsuit was extremely expensive, distracting and difficult for a small business owner. When word got out about this lawsuit, Andy received hundreds of calls offering pro-bono assistance. Small businesses as well as environmental groups including Plastic Pollution Coalition, Surfrider, Environmental Working Group, Heal the Bay and others pledged their support to Andy, and a campaign began through Care2 to make the plastic bag manufacturers drop their suit against ChicoBag. More than 25,000 individuals signed the petition in just over a month.

Two of the plaintiffs, Advanced Polybag and Superbag Operating, dropped out of the suit leaving Hilex Poly, the biggest of the three, alone in the ring. Andy felt as if he were in a classic after school special in which the two sidekicks of the bully back down leaving the bully suddenly, and pathetically all alone. Andy still had the support of environmental groups and his insurance company who helped craft a ground-breaking settlement that is a real victory for ChicoBag.

While Hilex Poly had originally demanded the removal of ChicoBag’s “Learn the Facts” webpage, a public retraction of disputed facts, payment for corrective advertising, damages, and disgorgement of Andy’s profits; the settlement instead prohibits Hilex Poly from falsely inflating recycling statistics for plastic bags and requires Hilex Poly to finally acknowledge the problem of wind-blown litter from their product.

In a victory for plastic bag foes and environmentally conscious consumers, the terms of the settlement will likely help the public to be better informed about the real impacts of single-use plastic bags. In a surprising departure from the plastic bag industry’s standard axiom “bags don’t litter, people do,” perhaps borrowed from the gun lobby, Hilex Poly acknowledged the fact that single-use bags can become windblown litter despite proper disposal. Hilex Poly has agreed to address this issue on their website, as well as printing a message on their bags informing users to “Tie Bag in Knot Before Disposal” to prevent windblown litter.

Hilex Poly and the plastic bag lobby are trying desperately to declare a victory in settlement of their lawsuit and point out that Andy’s insurance company, whose primary goal is to reduce their costs related to the litigation, negotiated a payment to Hilex Poly that resulted in the landmark settlement.

At last check, Hilex Poly had taken down their website “The Truth About Plastic Bags” and redirected it to a site called “Bag the Ban” with a smear campaign against Chico Bags that may be in violation of the settlement. Andy’s site is still up, having been fact checked by 8 of the leading experts in the field of waste management and plastic pollution and by the remaining plaintiff to the lawsuit, Hilex Poly. All the documents in the case are available here.

In Marin County’s case, the board of supervisors also plans to request a categorical exemption from the EIR requirement. But unlike Oakland, Marin County is planning to ban all single-use disposable bags, not just plastic bags, which just may be the fly in Save the Plastic Bag’s ointment. The argument that won in Oakland was that replacing all plastic bags with paper bags could have a negative environmental impact, thus an EIR was necessary.

Although Marin’s Board of Supervisors called the legal claims of SPB “bunk,” they are legally required to consider them. Should the ban move forward sans EIR and get past this stumbling block, it could pave the way for hundreds of other cities, towns and counties that would happily ban the bag if it didn’t entail a complicated and expensive EIR.

Help show your support for Marin County’s bag ban! Sign Environment California’s petition to the county here, and let them see how many citizens are behind the ban.

On January 4th, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will vote on a single-use bag ordinance. While it’s certainly not the first of such ordinances to be considered, particularly in California, it is unique in one important way:  Marin County plans to rely on a categorical exemption to CEQA (click here for more info) and not prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The City of Oakland attempted a similar approach last year and lost a lawsuit challenging its ordinance on the grounds that it had not done an EIR. In Oakland’s case, however, the city’s bag ordinance simply banned plastic bags.

Marin County’s ordinance includes a ban on plastic carryout bags and 5-cent charge on paper bags.  County supervisors believe that by imposing a charge on paper bags in addition to banning plastic bags, the ordinance neutralizes the argument that if consumers just switch to paper it can be as bad or worse for the environment than plastic, and thus also bypasses the need for an EIR.

Since most cities and counties view EIRs as a mandatory part of passing a bag ban, and the reports can potentially cost tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars for each municipality, other cities will be closely watching what happens in Marin. No doubt the American Chemistry Council will be watching as well.

This became the inaugural meeting of Plastic Pollution Coalition – a global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to end plastic pollution. At this inaugural meeting, Plastic Pollution Coalition committed to the measurable reduction of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on people, animals and the environment around the globe.  The coalition does not replace the work of any one of its members, but rather amplifies and expands on that work, by connecting local efforts to the global, and by igniting initiatives where there are none.

Reducing plastic pollution worldwide requires collaboration on a global scale between individuals, organizations, businesses and policy-makers. In the year that followed its inaugural meeting, Plastic Pollution Coalition set out to build the foundation for this collaboration.

I am proud to report that in 2010 we have achieved significant progress on all strategic objectives we set for the organization:

1. Build a foundation for global collaboration. The coalition has grown to over 100 organizational members and over 40 celebrity supporters from around the world, and continues to grow fast. New Coalition Manager Julia Cohen brings experience and leadership to this effort.
2. Ignite a global movement and elevate the discussion about plastic pollution and its impacts on the environment, health and social justice. Our social network is now over 80,000 people strong and growing fast.
3. Provide global news on plastic pollution. Plastic Free Times, a web-based portal for information and citizen participation on plastic pollution, launches in January of 2011. Managing Editor Amy Westervelt will lead this effort with experience and vision.
4. Connect local efforts to the global movement by delivering a global repository for legal resources, model ordinances and data on various plastic pollution efforts around the globe (launching in January of 2011).
5. Produce the first World Conference on Plastic Pollution to connect all facets of plastic pollution: public health, eco-system degradation, environmental justice and economic issues. TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch was a real catalyst in the public understanding of plastic pollution, with over 11,000 unique views from over 120 countries. All talks can be viewed online.

In 2011 Plastic Pollution Coalition will continue to measurably reduce plastic pollution by creating global connections, and elevating the topic of plastic pollution to the forefront of social, political and environmental dialog worldwide. Our top organizational priorities are the Four Challenges to Humanity, delivered at TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch.

If you would like to support this effort with a financial contribution or a limited edition art purchase, please visit our Donate page, or email art@plasticpollutioncoalition.org.

Thank you for your support, and thanks to all coalition partners for your committed effort toward a world free of plastic pollution!

Sincerely,

Daniella Russo

Executive Director

• JD Russo and Jordan Howard are two motivated and inspiring young leaders who will be part of Saturday’s TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch event. They will speak about their own efforts to educate and inspire others to live a more sustainable live with alternatives to disposable plastic. Sign up now to livestream the event!
• The 6th Ban the Bag march through Santa Monica by Team Marine, when Over 60 people took to the streets of Santa Monica with homemade signs and creative “plastic monster” costumes made from plastic waste.
• At The Brentwood School, a 6th Grade community service project to reduce plastic pollution led to reusable bottles for every student and the installation of hydration stations throughout the school, where kids can get a sip of water, fill their reusable bottle, and calculate how many plastic water bottles are spared when we reuse bottles.

Read about it all at Lisa’s blog on Huffington Post. If you haven’t already, take the REFUSE Disposable Plastic pledge, and sign on to livestream the TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch on November 6.

For years Dianna’s medium was discarded brightly colored plastic bags. As she saw how they slowly broke down in her artwork, she realized how they were breaking down and polluting the environment. Her education inspired her motivation to make a difference. She quickly learned that cleaning up the gyres is not the answer—it’s a drop in the bucket. The real solution is to turn off the faucet—to stop the rushing flow of plastic pollution we are all creating every day.

She stresses that the plastic pollution that is in the middle of the ocean starts very close to home. “I’m concerned about the gyre of plastic in the supermarket,” she said. She points out that nearly everything we eat is packaged in plastic. It’s what we do in our daily life that can put an end to horrors like the gyres of plastic in the ocean. This is why the Plastic Pollution Coalition has launched the REFUSE campaign. Reduce, reuse, recycle isn’t enough—for us to really get control of plastic pollution, we all need to REFUSE disposable plastic!

“It’s a problem we created,” says Dianna. “It’s a problem we can solve.” Be inspired by her video on TED, then sign the REFUSE pledge yourself and tune in on Nov. 6 when TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch will be Livestreamed from Santa Monica, CA.

Contact your local television affiliates and ask them to air this PSA on their station. They can access it from the Ad Council’s media portal. When they do, email info@ppc.org and let us know that it aired!

Since the 1940s, the Ad Council has been an active and cutting edge creator of PSAs that raise awareness and inspire action. PPC’s inclusion in the Ad Council’s newest catalog means many more broadcasters will be motivated to make use of “Buried in Plastic” by using the media portal PSA Central (http://psacentral.adcouncil.org/psacentral/) on the Ad Council Site.

Plastic bags will be one of the problems thought leaders will tackle at the TEDx GreatPacificGarbagePatch event Nov. 6. Sign the REFUSE pledge now and you will automatically be signed up to livestream the event that day. In addition to vibrant problem-solving about plastic pollution, the day will include entertainment and performances by Jackson Browne and others.

Watch this PSA in support of AB1998 to ban plastic bags in California, starring Ed Begley Jr., Kate Connor and featuring the music of the Ditty Bops. Directed by Grant James. And lets get a million people to watch it, too.