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| 06 May 2011 04:46:28 am |
| Another Plastic Bag Ban Hits California |
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Santa Clara County, Calif., recently joined cities like San Francisco, San Jose and Palo Alto in banning single-use plastic shopping bags from major retail stores. The San Francisco Bay Area County will also require these stores to charge a 15-cent fee per paper bag provided to customers.
The County’s ordinance, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, affects stores in the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County – not stores under the jurisdiction of individual cities in the county.
By excluding restaurants, fast food establishments and social and nonprofit organizations, the ban applies to approximately 50 to 65 retailers, according to the County’s estimates. Also exempted from the ban are plastic or paper bags for produce, meat and frozen foods, as well as dry cleaning bags and plastic bags used to protect delivered newspapers.
Find your local recycling solution
for plastic bags
If customers do not bring their own bags to the store, retailers will provide them with paper bags – required to be made of 40 percent recycled content – and charge customers 15 cents per bag, unless they are enrolled in federal assistance programs such as the food stamp program.
The ordinance comes after two years of research by County staff on how to address the litter problem created by single-use shopping bags.
READ: Inside Plastic Bans
“Two years ago, I brought the issue of banning single-use bags to the Board of Supervisors because I was deeply disturbed about the environmental impacts that single-use bags were having on our county and our waterways,” said County Supervisor Ken Yeager, who championed the ordinance.
Staff provided extensive outreach to residents on the environmental benefits of reusable bags and handed out more than 80,000 free reusable bags, said Elizabeth Constantino, manager of the County’s waste management program. The County also tried to set up a voluntary ban, asking stores if they wanted to voluntarily stop using plastic bags, and only store signed up.
Staff and the Board eventually determined that the most effective way to incentivize shoppers to switch to reusable bags was by both banning plastic bags and charging for paper bags.
“There is no amount of education and outreach you can do to get the kind of results we need – national studies show that. And the voluntary ban didn’t work either,” Constantino said.
“We acknowledge that both paper and plastic have their own environmental impacts,” Constantino went on to say. “That’s why we banned plastic bags and put a fee on paper bags. But there is a complexity to recycling plastic bags that paper bags don’t have. There are limited markets (for plastic bags), and bags collected at grocery stores can get contaminated with food or other plastics.”
WATCH: How Plastic Bags are Recycled
Makers of plastic bags and industry organizations such as the American Chemistry Council (ACC), however, criticize plastic bag bans for limiting consumer choice and harming the growth of plastic bag recycling programs.
“Far from being single-use products, bags are reused by more than 90 percent of consumers for various household tasks such as trash can liners… And what people don’t reuse can be recycled at more than 12,000 locations across the U.S.,” said Tim Shestek, the ACC’s senior director for state affairs.
Critics of plastic bag bans also say manufacturing and transporting plastic bags is more environmentally friendly than producing paper bags.
Last September, California lawmakers voted down a law to ban single-use plastic bags statewide.
http://earth911.com/news/2011/05/05/another-plastic-bag-ban-hits-california/ |
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Category : Eco News
| By : admin |
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| 06 May 2011 04:46:23 am |
| Another Plastic Bag Ban Hits California |
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Santa Clara County, Calif., recently joined cities like San Francisco, San Jose and Palo Alto in banning single-use plastic shopping bags from major retail stores. The San Francisco Bay Area County will also require these stores to charge a 15-cent fee per paper bag provided to customers.
The County’s ordinance, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, affects stores in the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County – not stores under the jurisdiction of individual cities in the county.
By excluding restaurants, fast food establishments and social and nonprofit organizations, the ban applies to approximately 50 to 65 retailers, according to the County’s estimates. Also exempted from the ban are plastic or paper bags for produce, meat and frozen foods, as well as dry cleaning bags and plastic bags used to protect delivered newspapers.
Find your local recycling solution
for plastic bags
If customers do not bring their own bags to the store, retailers will provide them with paper bags – required to be made of 40 percent recycled content – and charge customers 15 cents per bag, unless they are enrolled in federal assistance programs such as the food stamp program.
http://earth911.com/news/2011/05/05/another-plastic-bag-ban-hits-california/
The ordinance comes after two years of research by County staff on how to address the litter problem created by single-use shopping bags.
READ: Inside Plastic Bans
“Two years ago, I brought the issue of banning single-use bags to the Board of Supervisors because I was deeply disturbed about the environmental impacts that single-use bags were having on our county and our waterways,” said County Supervisor Ken Yeager, who championed the ordinance.
Staff provided extensive outreach to residents on the environmental benefits of reusable bags and handed out more than 80,000 free reusable bags, said Elizabeth Constantino, manager of the County’s waste management program. The County also tried to set up a voluntary ban, asking stores if they wanted to voluntarily stop using plastic bags, and only store signed up.
Staff and the Board eventually determined that the most effective way to incentivize shoppers to switch to reusable bags was by both banning plastic bags and charging for paper bags.
“There is no amount of education and outreach you can do to get the kind of results we need – national studies show that. And the voluntary ban didn’t work either,” Constantino said.
“We acknowledge that both paper and plastic have their own environmental impacts,” Constantino went on to say. “That’s why we banned plastic bags and put a fee on paper bags. But there is a complexity to recycling plastic bags that paper bags don’t have. There are limited markets (for plastic bags), and bags collected at grocery stores can get contaminated with food or other plastics.”
WATCH: How Plastic Bags are Recycled
Makers of plastic bags and industry organizations such as the American Chemistry Council (ACC), however, criticize plastic bag bans for limiting consumer choice and harming the growth of plastic bag recycling programs.
“Far from being single-use products, bags are reused by more than 90 percent of consumers for various household tasks such as trash can liners… And what people don’t reuse can be recycled at more than 12,000 locations across the U.S.,” said Tim Shestek, the ACC’s senior director for state affairs.
Critics of plastic bag bans also say manufacturing and transporting plastic bags is more environmentally friendly than producing paper bags.
Last September, California lawmakers voted down a law to ban single-use plastic bags statewide. |
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Category : Eco News
| By : admin |
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| 02 May 2011 06:10:24 am |
| Phuket Airport international arrivals up 25% |
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PHUKET: Phuket is enjoying record numbers of foreign tourists in 2011, according to official statistics.
The number of international passengers arriving at Phuket Airport January through March totaled 654,009, up 25.1% over the same period in 2010, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
This included a growth of 31.3% (228,76 in January, 24.3% (231,326) in February and 21.6% (193,915) in March.
From April 1 through 23 April, international passengers arriving at the airport totaled 123,934, up almost 31% over the same period last year.
The Immigration Bureau reported 1,692,598 international passengers arriving at Phuket Airport in 2010 up 42.7% over 2009, said the TAT.
The announcement followed a TAT “familiarization trip” that saw members of the Bangkok press and tour agents treated to a four-day excursion to sample TAT award-winning tourism products on the island.
Meanwhile, Airports of Thailand (AoT) has announced that the first phase of its expansion project at Phuket Airport is expected to be finished in September, just in time for the next tourism high season.
AoT Board of Directors chairman Tirapol Noparumpaat led a meeting of the AoT board at the Sea Pearl Villas Resort in Kathu following an inspection tour of the airport yesterday.
All of the improvements underway are geared at facilitating passenger movement through the airport.
These include increased seating capacity in the departure lounges, improvements in the baggage collection system, better security including installation of more CCTV cameras and improved detection capability at the passenger walk-through gate.
The plan also includes some rare good news for smokers: there will be an upgrade of the smoking room in the international departure lounge.
Passenger traffic at the airport in fiscal 2010 (October 2009 through September 2010) increased 13.9% over the previous year, while flight traffic was up 18.9% over the same period, according to AoT figures.
The airport currently has 36 airlines using the facility, including five charter carriers.
Phuket Airport now has flight services to 60 destinations in 23 different countries, according to AoT.
http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article10242.html |
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Category : Argentina
| By : admin |
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| 12 Apr 2011 03:18:50 am |
| The Goldman Environmantal Prize |
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2011 Recipients
The 2011 Goldman Prize recipients tackled some of the most pressing environmental issues of the day through grassroots efforts, helping to educate and motivate local communities to get involved in the effort to protect the natural environment around them and to stand up for their rights.
This year's winners are:
Africa
RAOUL DU TOIT, Zimbabwe
Raoul du Toit coordinated conservation initiatives that have helped to develop and maintain the largest remaining black rhino populations in Zimbabwe.
Asia
DMITRY LISITSYN, Russia
Dmitry Lisitsyn fought to protect Sakhalin Island’s critical endangered ecosystems while also demanding safety measures from one of the world’s largest petroleum development projects.
Europe
URSULA SLADEK, Germany
In response to Germany’s expanded reliance on nuclear energy, Ursula Sladek created her country’s first cooperatively-owned renewable power company.
Islands
PRIGI ARISANDI, Indonesia
Biologist Prigi Arisandi initiated a local movement to stop industrial pollution from flowing into a river that provides water to three million people.
North America
HILTON KELLEY, USA
Now leading the battle for environmental justice on the Texas Gulf Coast, Hilton Kelley fights for communities living in the shadow of polluting industries.
South & Central America
FRANCISCO PINEDA, El Salvador
Living under the constant threat of assassination, Francisco Pineda led a citizens’ movement that stopped a gold mine from destroying El Salvador’s dwindling water resources.
http://goldmanprize.org/recipients/current |
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Category : Eco News
| By : admin |
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| 24 Mar 2011 04:02:22 am |
| Air Bagan adds flights to Phuket |
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Published: 24/03/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
Air Bagan, the Burmese airline with connections to the ruling junta in Naypyidaw, is opening its second air link with Thailand with the launch of non-stop flights between Phuket and Rangoon.
The twice-a-week service will begin on April 11, using a Fokker 100 twin-turbofan airliner with 92 seats, airline sources said yesterday.
By opening the direct Phuket-Rangoon service, Air Bagan is aiming for new traffic flow, mostly tourists, keen to bypass Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The skies between Bangkok and Rangoon are already congested with several operators including Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia and Myanmar Airways International offering frequent services.
Since early last year, Air Bagan has been operating from Chiang Mai to Rangoon, also twice a week, with two aircraft types _ a Fokker 100 jet and the smaller ATR 72 turboprop _ depending on passenger volumes.
The launch of the Phuket-Rangoon service reflects management's confidence that it could convince the junta to reinstate the visas on arrival for foreigners, removing a major impediment to international arrivals to Burma.
The junta suspended the facility last November after only a few months, saying international foreign traffic had grown "out of control".
The suspension took place just before the general election on Nov 7 as the regime wanted to screen foreign visitors, who are now required to apply for visa at Burmese embassies.
The fee for a visa on arrival was planned to be US$30 and it would take 30 minutes to be issued.
The full-service airline has given itself three months to gauge traffic demand before deciding the future of the route.
It is promoting the new route by bundling it with a tour package in the Rangoon area. A package costs 20,900 baht for travel from April 11-15 and 19,900 baht for trips taken from April 15-18. The all-in round-trip fare is now 10,900 baht. The flights, every Monday and Friday, take two hours.
Air Bagan operates to 21 destinations within Burma.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/228328/air-bagan-adds-flights-to-phuket |
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Category : Phuket
| By : admin |
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