Plastic Bags

This is in response to Mike Antonovich's Nov. 24 letter "Not the proper time for a bag ban. " You wrote: "This is not the appropriate time in our efforts to clean up the environment ... " Really? When exactly is the appropriate time then? I believe we should have banned the plastic bag eons ago. In fact, we probably never should have started allowing plastic bags to be used. "Educating our residents on the harm of illegally disposing their plastic bags can be effective," you go on to say. Again, I say really?

BURBANK — Proponents of banning plastic bags and Styrofoam in Burbank found an ally Tuesday, as the City Council asked staff members to move forward with a plan detailing ways to eliminate the environmental irritants. The plan, brought forward by Recycling Coordinator Kreigh Hampel, includes further educational outreach to businesses and a promise to support future state legislation — should any be enacted in Sacramento next year. “We’re not talking about a ban tonight, just education,” Hampel said at the meeting.

Flair Cleaners in Burbank has over the past year successfully asked customers to get their clothes naked — that is without all the plastic wrapping and other packaging. In an effort to reduce waste, more than 30% of the customers at Flair now ask for their clothes naked, said store manager Ron Roscoe. Flair Cleaners at 337 N. Pass Ave. already uses biodegradable plastic bags to hang freshly cleaned garments, but it wants customers to ditch plastic completely. Last week the store gave away a free reusable dry-cleaning bag to everyone who came in with two or more items to be cleaned.

BURBANK — Fiona Soukup, a 45-year-old South African native with two young children, long ago eschewed using single-use plastic bags while shopping. For Americans, though, transferring from plastic to reusable bags is just starting to take hold. That challenge was illustrated Thursday in Burbank, when city workers fanned out at retail outlets across the city to educate shoppers on the environmental dangers of plastic bags. Employees with the city’s recycling center also handed out 2,500 green and brown reusable bags while asking consumers to talk on video about their transformation away from plastic during the second annual Day Without a Bag. “I think it’s awesome,” said Soukup, who now lives in Santa Clarita.

Once again the 30-plus-year windbag, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, gets published in the Burbank Leader in his ongoing effort to make it 40 or more years at the public trough ("Not the proper time for a bag ban," Nov. 24). A while back, someone gave me some reusable bags. I use them all the time now — easier and more comfortable to handle, hold my groceries better, and don't cut into my fingers as plastic bags do. I am 76 years old. Come on seniors, get interested in new and innovative things, especially if they help the environment.

BURBANK — Proponents of banning plastic bags and Styrofoam in Burbank found an ally Tuesday, as the City Council asked staff members to move forward with a plan detailing ways to eliminate the environmental irritants. The plan, brought forward by Recycling Coordinator Kreigh Hampel, includes further educational outreach to businesses and a promise to support future state legislation — should any be enacted in Sacramento next year. “We’re not talking about a ban tonight, just education,” Hampel said at the meeting.

I take issue with Jeri Anderson's letter in disagreement of Los Angeles County Mike Antonovich's position on plastic bags ("We can live better without plastic bags," Dec. 4). Everyone agrees that improperly discarded plastic bags make a mess. However, there are solutions and considerations, other than prohibiting the use of these bags, that we must discuss before we can solve this problem. First, how much harm to the environment do canvas bags cause in their manufacture, transportation and disposal?

I completely disagree with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich's "no" vote on banning single-use plastic bags in the county and his reasons for doing so ("Not the proper time for a bag ban," Nov. 24). He claims it puts an unfair burden on the consumer and businesses. I say not banning single-use plastic bags puts an unfair burden on our environment. And, like it or not, we need our environment to be healthy or we won't have anything left to consume. No one can deny that our environment has been badly abused.

A ban on plastic bags from store checkouts has been recommended by the Sustainable Burbank Task Force. Councilman Gary Bric, a non-voting council representative to the task force, said the task force recommended the city move forward with a ban. “This is just the first step,” Bric said. The county ban went into effect July 1 for stores with gross annual sales of $2 million, or that have at least 10,000 square feet of floor space. Smaller stores in the county must comply by Jan. 1, 2012.

Flair Cleaners in Burbank has over the past year successfully asked customers to get their clothes naked — that is without all the plastic wrapping and other packaging. In an effort to reduce waste, more than 30% of the customers at Flair now ask for their clothes naked, said store manager Ron Roscoe. Flair Cleaners at 337 N. Pass Ave. already uses biodegradable plastic bags to hang freshly cleaned garments, but it wants customers to ditch plastic completely. Last week the store gave away a free reusable dry-cleaning bag to everyone who came in with two or more items to be cleaned.

I take issue with Jeri Anderson's letter in disagreement of Los Angeles County Mike Antonovich's position on plastic bags ("We can live better without plastic bags," Dec. 4). Everyone agrees that improperly discarded plastic bags make a mess. However, there are solutions and considerations, other than prohibiting the use of these bags, that we must discuss before we can solve this problem. First, how much harm to the environment do canvas bags cause in their manufacture, transportation and disposal?

This is in response to Mike Antonovich's Nov. 24 letter "Not the proper time for a bag ban. " You wrote: "This is not the appropriate time in our efforts to clean up the environment ... " Really? When exactly is the appropriate time then? I believe we should have banned the plastic bag eons ago. In fact, we probably never should have started allowing plastic bags to be used. "Educating our residents on the harm of illegally disposing their plastic bags can be effective," you go on to say. Again, I say really?

Once again the 30-plus-year windbag, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, gets published in the Burbank Leader in his ongoing effort to make it 40 or more years at the public trough ("Not the proper time for a bag ban," Nov. 24). A while back, someone gave me some reusable bags. I use them all the time now — easier and more comfortable to handle, hold my groceries better, and don't cut into my fingers as plastic bags do. I am 76 years old. Come on seniors, get interested in new and innovative things, especially if they help the environment.

I completely disagree with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich's "no" vote on banning single-use plastic bags in the county and his reasons for doing so ("Not the proper time for a bag ban," Nov. 24). He claims it puts an unfair burden on the consumer and businesses. I say not banning single-use plastic bags puts an unfair burden on our environment. And, like it or not, we need our environment to be healthy or we won't have anything left to consume. No one can deny that our environment has been badly abused.

BURBANK — Fiona Soukup, a 45-year-old South African native with two young children, long ago eschewed using single-use plastic bags while shopping. For Americans, though, transferring from plastic to reusable bags is just starting to take hold. That challenge was illustrated Thursday in Burbank, when city workers fanned out at retail outlets across the city to educate shoppers on the environmental dangers of plastic bags. Employees with the city’s recycling center also handed out 2,500 green and brown reusable bags while asking consumers to talk on video about their transformation away from plastic during the second annual Day Without a Bag. “I think it’s awesome,” said Soukup, who now lives in Santa Clarita.

BURBANK — Proponents of banning plastic bags and Styrofoam in Burbank found an ally Tuesday, as the City Council asked staff members to move forward with a plan detailing ways to eliminate the environmental irritants. The plan, brought forward by Recycling Coordinator Kreigh Hampel, includes further educational outreach to businesses and a promise to support future state legislation — should any be enacted in Sacramento next year. “We’re not talking about a ban tonight, just education,” Hampel said at the meeting.