# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Starting Oct. 1, plastic bags will be banned in the Prince William Sound town of Cordova.

The ban has been a year in the making, since the Cordova City Council voted unanimously in November 2015 to ban plastic bags and polystyrene foam food containers in the community of 2,200 residents.

Bethel and Hooper Bay are two other Alaska communities with plastic bag bans. Others, including Homer, have attempted similar bans in recent years. Homer's ban, first approved by the City Council, lasted only several months before being overturned by a popular vote in 2013. A Fairbanks tax on plastic bags was considered by the City Council in 2009, but community pushback forced the city to rescind the measure before it ever went into effect.

Cordova's one-year lag was to give businesses - there are two main grocery stores in the town - time to adapt to the change, according to Emily Stolarcyk, program manager for the Eyak Preservation Council, the organization that spearheaded the bag ban.

Enforcement will be through the police department, with violators facing a fine of up to $1,000. But interim city manager and Police Chief Mike Hicks said it's unlikely the maximum fine would be imposed. He said most retailers have been receptive to the change.

"I don't think we're going to have any problems with people switching over," he said. "I think it's going to go just fine."

The council brought the idea to the city last year, but it wasn't exactly new. The Cordova High School club Future Problem Solvers suggested the idea to the city years earlier, though it never gained traction.

Stolarcyk decided to change that, gathering 300 signatures last summer before bringing the ordinance to the council.

She said Cordova, a fishing hub near the mouth of the Copper River, is dependent on healthy oceans. She said a plastic bag ban would help reinforce that message in the community.

It would also help clean things up. Stolarcyk said Cordova has some informal recycling but no regular program. She said it's not unusual to see plastic grocery sacks stuck in trees or bushes along the highway leading out to the landfill, 17 miles from the city center.

Former mayor Jim Kacsh, who approved the ordinance, said he often goes hunting for rabbits along the road. Bags and plastic foam clamshell boxes dot the landscape.

"You wind up sneaking up on a little plastic bag because they look just like the bunny," he said in a phone interview Wednesday. "They're everywhere."

He said there was some pushback from retailers during the debate, but it was minimal. Kacsh said he supports the ban, but he admits he's struggled with what to do at his own NAPA Auto Parts store. He's been saving boxes and looking into buying reusable cloth bags for customers. But those are expensive, and customers would have to pay for them.

James Brand, branch manager of the AC Value Center in Cordova, the city's largest retailer, said the store is still working through its stock of regular plastic bags. Last year the store handed out 140,000 plastic bags.

He said biodegradable bags are in the process of being shipped and will likely be there in time for the ban's implementation Oct. 1. But he said if they aren't the store will still have paper bags.

Brand said there was precedent for using biodegradable bags, since the Bethel AC store also uses them. He said the biggest challenge has been trying to get Cordova's sizable transient population to understand the upcoming ban. This summer the store handed out 400 reusable bags hoping to target those customers. They were a hit.

"We have a lot of people come through with the cloth bags," Branch said. "It's really is cool to see people embracing it."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cordova will ban plastic bags and foam containers starting Oct. 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Starting Oct. 1, plastic bags will be banned in the Prince William Sound town of Cordova. The ban has been a year in the making, since the Cordova City Council voted unanimously in November 2015 to ban plastic bags and polystyrene foam food containers in the community of 2,200 residents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Four Years of Trash: One Jar. What's in Lauren Singer's Mason Jar?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Four Years of Trash: One Jar. What is in Lauren Singer's Mason Jar? I have been living a Zero Waste lifestyle for four years now and the most common question that I get is " What is in your mason jar?".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Scholarly Article on Biodegradable Packaging

# data[].attributes.headline
A Children Story on Plastic Bags and Sea Turtles

# data[].attributes.subject
A Children Story on Plastic Bags and Sea Turtles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
National Storytelling Network's Healing Story Alliance Special Interest Group

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By J. R. Cargill © 2009.

Once upon a time, there was a handful of little plastic pellets called Rustle. All Rustle longed for was to be useful. He dreamed of being a red umbrella or a yellow raincoat or a plastic toy...
Then, one day, he got a job.

He was taken to a big noisy factory and turned into....
a shiny, new, white plastic shopping bag,
along with millions and millions and millions of his friends.

He loved his new rustling sound [rustle rustle] but all Rustle longed for was to be useful.

Rustle and his friends got loaded into a truck and they drove for hours and hours and hours [Sound effect] to a giant supermarket.

The next day, the moment Rustle had been waiting for all his life arrived. At last, he would be useful!

He was on the metal hooks by the checkout
and he was being filled up with shopping for a family!

They loaded him up with
oranges, sausages, sushi, lollies, lemonade, salami, balloons, strawberries in plastic, chocolate and noodle cups...

When the family got home, they unloaded the shopping, then they folded Rustle and his friends up and put them away.

The family re-used Rustle many times until one day...
he got so worn out that a hole appeared in his side.

The family said:
Oh dear, this one is no use anymore- we can't even wrap the dog's poo in this bag!

So they tossed Rustle into the bin. They didn't know that if you really have to use a plastic bag then when you throw it away, it's a good idea to tie a knot in it first.

Soon loads of smelly things landed on top of Rustle (and since the family didn't have a compost system, there was food as well like...
rotten eggs (pause)
pizza cartons with anchovies (pause)
coffee grounds and chicken bones (pause)
some rotten prawn shells in a plastic bag, (pause)
a stinky old shoe (pause)
and as if that wasn't bad enough, then came
a pooey plastic nappy!

Someone had forgotten to flush the poo down the toilet
before they put the nappy in the bin!
Rustle couldn't wait for bin day.

Fiiiiiiinally, the rubbish truck came...

[Sound rattling rubbish truck]
It tipped Rustle and all the rubbish out of the bin and into the back of the truck, then rattled off to the tip.
[Sound tipping and rattling rubbish truck]

To Rustle's great relief, when the tip truck emptied the rubbish out, he landed on the very top.

There was a bit of a breeze and it picked Rustle up and he began to dance along the ground. Then the breeze turned into a wind and soon he was dancing ...
a little higher
and a little higher
until he was flying above the trees
flying gracefully in a playful gust of wind.

He began to sing: 'I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky,
I think about it every time the wind blows
flap my handles and fly away

can fly right up to the sky, flap my handles and fly away...' (to tune of A Alexander 'I believe I can fly' from' Take your Chance' album, 2003)
I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about in every night and day
Flap my handles and fly away...

Suddenly, the wind dropped... Rustle fell into the gutter, landing among: cigarette butts, plastic drink bottles, popper straw wrappers, lolly wrappers, bits of noodle cups and balloons and even some friends of Rustles from the factory.

Poor old Rustle lived in the gutter for a long time... dreaming of flying.

But one day, in March, heavy rain washed Rustle along, along and along the gutter then down, down the drain.
From the drain, the water swept Rustle into a storm water pipe,
from the storm water pipe Rustle was washed into a creek,
from the creek Rustle was washed into a river
and from the river Rustle got swept into the Seeeeeeeaaaaaa!

Rustle was floating free further and further out into the Pacific Ocean! As he floated out he noticed he had company- all his friends and cousins were coming too: chip packets, lolly wrappers and drink straws...

A bunch of jellyfish swam by. With his body all swollen with water and his handles hanging upside down like tentacles, Rustle looked just like a jellyfish, so the jellyfish let him swim with them.

He felt a song come over him:
GURGLING underwater sound
"I like to be under the Sea, in a jellyfish's garden in the shade..."(Tune of Beetles 'Octopus's Garden')

Just then along came Shelley, the Leatherback turtle.

Shelley was just returning from a looong journey to Fiji where she had laid her first eggs.
So now -ohh she... was... HUNGRY- very, very hungry.

Shelley's very favourite food - was jellyfish tentacles- so she went hunting! She nibbled the tentacles off Rustles new friends and then she spied the biggest shiniest jellyfish she'd ever seen...mmm- Rustle!

A current swooshed Rustle away and Shelley missed. She chased him again and Rustle frantically flapped his handles. She missed again but then on her third pass she caught Rustle.

But when Shelley nibbled on Rustles tentacles, all of that shiny but strange tasting jellyfish went down into her stomach.

[swallow sounds]
Straight away Shelleys' tummy felt bad.
With Rustle blocking her tummy up, she couldn't digest her food.
[sad sound]
When she needed to let wind out, it couldn't get out because Rustle blocked the way.

Slowly Shelley got more and more bloated and more and more sick. She couldn't dive down to catch food anymore.

Shelley got so ill that barnacles grew on her shell. Then she washed up on the beach.
Shelley lay in the Sun feeling worse and worse. A big human and a small human were walking on the beach.
They came over to see.

Kid: Oh wow Dad it's a sea turtle. I've never seen one up close! It's so big!
Dad: Yeah, but come to think of it, it doesn't seem quite right to see a turtle here in the day time. I don't think this turtle is well.

The humans soon realized Shelley needed help, so they called the Marine Rescue Service. [Sound: call on mobile]

Along came the Marine Rescue Workers
[hero music: dundun ]
The carers put Shelley to sleep and operated on her to get Rustle out of her stomach, which made Shelley feel a lot better.

After three months, Shelley was well enough to go back to the Sea. Shelley had been very, very lucky to survive swallowing Rustle. Many of her cousins were not so lucky.
The carers waved her goodbye calling
"Good luck Shelley and don't eat any more plastic will you?!"

As for Rustle, he asked the marine carers if he could please be made into something really useful, because that's all he'd ever wanted all his life.

The marine carers scratched their heads and said "We're sorry Rustle, if you were still clean and in good shape, we could send you to be recycled into something useful, but you are dirty and torn and there aren't any machines yet that could make anything with you."
"Oh dear" said Rustle. "I wish I'd never been made!"
Rustle began to sniff.
"Well yes, it would be better if we humans didn't make plastic bags in the first place. You don't mean to, but you and your friends cause very serious problems for all the creatures in the Sea."

One of the carer's had a little girl who heard this conversation and she spoke up and said "I know how Rustle can be useful Mum! You could use him in a story!"

And so they did.

Whenever the Marine Rescue Workers were invited to speak to groups about turtles and wildlife, they would show a photo of Shelley and hold up Rustle and then they'd tell the story of
'Rustle the plastic bag and Shelley the Leatherback turtle'.

Epilogue:

That's not the end of the story really, because lots of plastic rubbish is still ending up in the Sea and lots of creatures large and small are still swallowing bits of plastic.

But you can help change that story.

You can think of Shelley every time you go shopping. Next time your family go shopping, say:

"Stop! Have we got our Eco Bags???"
Take lots, because you always buy more at the shops than you plan to...
You can help by picking up plastic rubbish when you see it especially if it is near a drain or water. If you really have to use a plastic bag or if you pick one up from the street, tie a knot in it before you put it in the bin and ...remember the drain is just for rain!

References and links
Clean Up Australia: Plastic Bag Facts
Australian Seabird Rescue

Shelley and Rustle, How I tell it
by Jenni Cargill-Strong

I find 'Shelley and Rustle' generally works best for children over 5 years. Younger children will listen but may not get it fully. I use two props: a plastic bag and a toy sea turtle. I use some audience participation in the story. When Shelley starts eating jellyfish, I get a child to hold Rustle (the plastic bag) and I hold my toy version of Shelley the turtle. I put the child at one side of the stage and me at opposite end and I make Rustle swim quickly towards Rustle- a bit like a toreador scene, with the child flapping Rustle and Shelley lunging at him. We do this three times, swapping sides each time and on the third sweep Shelley swallows Rustle. That child sits down then (to thanks and applause).

I sometimes get another two children up later when the father and child discover Shelley sick on the beach. I do it like a pantomime, with two children as the father and child. I explain what to do once they are on stage and feed them their lines.

I used to also get children to be the rescue service, but without being able to rehearse first this sometimes slowed the story too much and made it cumbersome, so now I do all that part myself. The story would work well for students to enact like a play with one student as narrator.

If time it is great to have a discussion about plastic bags and the sea as the idea of using plastic is so entrenched that it is very hard for people to shift away. I have sometimes had kids proudly volunteer that they recycle their plastic bags to hold the rubbish. This misunderstanding: that using as much plastic as you want is OK, as long as you recycle it, is insidious. Australia is one of the highest per capita users of plastic bags in the world.

Here is a link to the way I tell it via Bandcamp: https://storytree.bandcamp.com/track/shelley-and-rustle-2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shelley The Sea Turtle Meets Rustle The Plastic Bag

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By J. R. Cargill © 2009. Once upon a time, there was a handful of little plastic pellets called Rustle. All Rustle longed for was to be useful. He dreamed of being a red umbrella or a yellow raincoat or a plastic toy... Then, one day, he got a job.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SeaWorld Employees Place Orcas In Plastic Bags Of Water While Cleaning Tanks

# data[].attributes.headline
An Unorthodox Way to Reduce Plastic Bag Waste

# data[].attributes.subject
An Unorthodox Way to Reduce Plastic Bag Waste

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Addicted to Eating Plastic Bags | My Strange Addiction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A 23-year-old man who's addicted to eating plastic newspaper bags. | For more My Strange Addiction, visit http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/my-strange-addiction/#mkcpgn=yttlc1 Get this full episode now! | http://bit.ly/mystrangeaddiction My Strange Addiction airs Wednesdays 10/9c on TLC! Addiction Update Videos! | http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/my-strange-addiction/videos/exclusive-videos.htm/#mkcpgn=yttlc1 Subscribe to TLC! | http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=tlc

# data[].attributes.headline
Info Graphic on Plastic Bag Bans Around the World 

# data[].attributes.subject
Info Graphic on Plastic Bag Bans Around the World 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Every year, one trillion plastic bags - single use - are used, equating to 2 million per minute. Different countries have different usage levels, but the entire world has to commit to reducing this usage. A plastic bag is made from depletable resources, yet almost never breaks down.

Plastic is all over our planet. It is a fantastic material that has greatly improve the world. At the same time, it has killed many animals and plants and destroyed the beauty of the planet as a whole. If recycled, most of these problems wouldn't exist. However, we live in a disposable, consumerist society.
Plastic Bag Bans in Various Countries
There are a lot of problem associated with plastic bags, which is why bans or fees are in place in many countries. The oldest is in Denmark, which started in 1993, whereby charges are levied for the use of plastic bags. This made use drop by 60% quite quickly.

Ireland has perhaps the best known measure, which is the 2002 'bag tax'. Consumers would have to actually purchase bags. This resulted in a 90% drop in bag usage and a great reduction in litter. By 2007, usage was rising again, which led to an increase in the price of bags.

Ireland and Denmark are just two successful examples and many other countries across the world are following suit. The European Union will require an 80% reduction of plastic bags by 2019. This means virtually every European country is now considering ways to bring about reductions.

The main driver behind bag bans is to lower how much plastic finds its way into the marine world. About 94% of all birds have plastic in their stomachs, which is also found in the stomachs of many endangered species. At least 267 different species of animals have suffered as a result of ingestion of or entanglement with plastic. In fact, these results caused Australia to ban bags locally in 2003, in an effort to protect the migrating whales in Tasmania.

There are other reasons to ban bags as well. In Kenya, for instance, it is done to stop the spread of Malaria. In Bangladesh, the Philippines and Cameroon, it protects the sewage systems and avoids floods. In Texas and Indian communities, it is done to protect the cow. In Mauritania, for instance, 70% of sheep and cattle deaths are related to plastic ingestion. The same concern exists for camels in the United Arab Emirates.

Rwanda perhaps has the strictest strategy. Their ban started in 2008, and passengers often have to hand over all their plastic bags. Unfortunately, no statistics exist on the effectiveness of this ban. South Africa recognizes bags in trees and bushes as their national flower. They banned certain bags by 2003 and taxed thicker ones. Botswana put up a fee in 2007 and retailers have reported a 50% drop in bag usage. Some 16 countries on the African continent have bag bans and taxes in place.

China, not known for its environmental concerns, actually started to limit the use of plastic bags in the 1990s, albeit not successfully. By 2008, a law went into effect in line with the Olympic Games, which banned the thinnest bags and started a fee for thicker ones. Compliance is still not very good. Other Southeast Asian countries have also come up with reduction legislation.

In this country, there are 133 different anti-bag regulations, city and county wide. Some 30% of Californians are covered by this, as are almost all Hawaiians. Chicago banned bags in 2014. Washington, DC and Dallas charge for bags, paper and plastic. This was due to bags finding their way into the rivers. Canada has voluntary anti-bag actions and incentives for stores and consumers have dropped bag usage by some 50%. Plastic bags are no longer used in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Manitoba.

Certain cities in Chile and certain parts of Argentina and Brazil only use biodegradable bags. Sao Paulo banned single use bags in 2012 and charged for biodegradable bags. Unfortunately, this measure was removed. Mexico City banned bags in 2009. However, plastic manufacturers heavily protested this and the measure was repealed before it was actually enforced. Instead, a recycling initiative was instated, which is something plastic industry groups use regularly to avoid fees and bans.

It is no secret that plastic bags cost our world a lot, and that we are still paying for the many years of plastic bag usage. People should commit to reducing how many bags they use, taking their own bags when they go shopping, for instance. While governments do work towards helping us with that, we do also have to accept some personal responsibility towards saving the planet ourselves.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every year, one trillion plastic bags - single use - are used, equating to 2 million per minute. Different countries have different usage levels, but the entire world has to commit to reducing this usage. A plastic bag is made from depletable resources, yet almost never breaks down.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Melati and Isabel Wijsen: Our campaign to ban plastic bags in Bali

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Plastic bags are essentially indestructible, yet they're used and thrown away with reckless abandon. Most end up in the ocean, where they pollute the water and harm marine life; the rest are burned in garbage piles, where they release harmful dioxins into the atmosphere.