Long Beach has joined the effort to change shoppers' habits of single-use plastic and paper bags.
The city and Heal the Bay, with other environmental and government organizations, will launch "A Day Without a Bag" Dec. 17, encouraging people to reduce their reliance on harmful products.
Californians use 14 billion plastic grocery and merchandise bags annually, but recycle less than five percent, according to city spokesman Ed Kamlan.
Cutting single-use plastic bag waste in half, Kamlan noted, would save more than 800,000 barrels of oil and keep 73,000 tons of trash out of our landfills each year.
Single-use paper bags, Kamlan added, generate 70 percent more air pollutants than single-use plastic bags in the manufacturing process.
Free reusable bags will be distributed in Long Beach at the following locations:
City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd., lobby information desk, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Main Library, 101 Pacific Ave., front desk, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information about "Day Without a Bag", visit www.healthebay.org/nobagday/2009.
Joe Segura, a mild-mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper, has covered Gotham City, er Long Beach, for 34 years. During his very, very long -- endless -- tenure, he's covered almost every beat, and he was the main writer for BeachWeek, which focused on life and lifestyles of the shoreline communities from downtown Long Beach to the Huntington Beach pier.
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