Press Room

The bag heard 'round the world

By Nicole Young, Staff Writer

shropshire with reusable bag reminder signAll it took was something as simple as a plastic bag to catch the world's attention.

Within a month of announcing a plan to sack plastic shopping bags in the city of Annapolis, Alderman Sam Shropshire, D-Ward 7, found himself and the flimsy shopping bag in the spotlight throughout the world, making him the "bag man."

It started with stories in local newspapers and on area broadcasts and soon The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine, The Houston Chronicle, The Irish Sun in Ireland and The New Kerala in India had picked up the story.

"I never thought it would get attention like this," Mr. Shropshire said. "But this is bigger than just me."

What makes a mundane item like the plastic shopping bag such a hot topic? It's the impact and culture of overconsumption in America, he says.

Americans use about 100 billion bags each year. The bags take at least 500 years to biodegrade, and kill hundreds of thousands of marine animals, Mr. Shropshire said, citing data from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.

As an environmental activist, Mr. Shropshire contends sacking the bags is best for the Chesapeake Bay. He calls for only 100 percent-recycled paper bags or reusable bags instead.

"You can see plastic bags floating around in the water constantly," he said. "They are not only filling up with silt ... and acting like sandbags, those that find their way into the Chesapeake Bay are doing great harm to the marine life."

Following the movement in San Francisco to ban plastic bags from large grocery and drug store chains, Mr. Shropshire unleashed the idea to Annapolis on July 9 when he presented to City Council a bill banning plastic carry-out bags.

Other cities, including Baltimore, Boston, Phoenix and Portland, Ore., are also considering similar measures, and several are watching to see how Annapolis' aldermen vote.

In keeping with the environmental mantra "think globally, act locally," Mr. Shropshire has taken on the plastics industry, acting locally to distribute some 300 reusable bags to anyone with whom he comes in contact, from famed radio host Diane Rehm, to numerous constituents.

Getting the bag out

Stuck in Route 50 traffic Monday morning, Mr. Shropshire has less than 20 minutes until he's a guest on National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show, that airs from the American University radio studio in Washington.

In his champagne-colored Honda Accord is Kelly Davis, an environmental consultant and researcher. And today, she's Mr. Shropshire's coach.

She showed up at the public hearing on the bag bill last month and has been conducting research on the topic for Mr. Shropshire ever since.

Before the show the two review their game plan, including how to steer the conversation in his direction when a time crunch becomes apparent.

Dressed in his small-print houndstooth check suit, Mr. Shropshire asks God to help him get through the traffic and to the station on time - and he makes it, two minutes before he's scheduled to go live at 11:06 a.m.

"When my constituents elected me to office ... They didn't just get an alderman who would simply fill potholes or be concerned about other issues in the city, they got someone who cares about the environment," he said during the show.

He also fielded calls from throughout the nation, including from Michigan and Florida, and listeners sent in more than 100 e-mails with questions and comments.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Shropshire hosted The Tom Moore Show in Baltimore, fielding about 30 calls on the bag ban bill, he said.

"It's a no-brainer. Like 'smoke-free legislation,' it's something people want," Mr. Shropshire said. "(People are) willing to exist with a little inconvenience and they are willing to start using reusable bags - our primary push."

Following the hour-long show, he lunches with friends and associates at a Washington, DC, restaurant.

The topic of discussion? The plastic bag ban. His luncheon companions included two women from the Alice Ferguson Foundation, a nonprofit environmental education group who spoke on the bag ban in July, and a graduate student from Carnegie Mellon University.

He spent the rest of the day and week tackling the issue of crime in the city, another priority high on his list.

And although crime may be a hot issue in Annapolis, plastic is still the issue most associated with Mr. Shropshire.

Is it in the bag?

Mr. Shropshire says he is confident that the bill will pass when City Council votes on it Oct. 8.

But there are still amendments he wants to introduce, including a better time frame for when the ban would go into effect. He would like to see the ban in effect within 6 months of passage for the larger retailers, and within 9 months for the smaller shops, giving the smaller shops a little more time to adjust.

He said he doesn't want to see any business take a financial hit by having to quickly replace the cheaper plastic bags with the more expensive paper bags.

Mr. Shropshire said he is also looking at a implementing a plastic bottle return fee at the state level, and requiring that disposable baby diapers be made from biodegradable materials.

He hasn't been alone in his efforts either.

Mr. Shropshire has formed a committee with some of the area's leading environmentalists, including Ms. Davis, Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; David Prosten, chairman of the Anne Arundel Sierra Club; Anne Pearson, director of the Alliance for Sustainable Communities; and Tracy Bowen of the Alice Ferguson Foundation.

Together, they're discussing how to get the word out about the bill.

One idea - to mail details of the bill to all registered voters - was scrapped because of the high cost. It would have been about $12,000.

Also, mailing out about 15,000 paper documents about an environmental subject might not be a good fit.

Retail business owners and grocers have said the bill will hurt their bottom line, and costs will be passed on to consumers.

Representatives from major grocery stores Safeway and Giant have said more than 95 percent of customers use the plastic bags, and offering paper is something the cashiers don't even do anymore.

Some small retailers, including Cecilia Benalcazar of the Main Street Mini Mart have called the ban "too extreme."

City grocers Giant and Safeway hired Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano to speak against the bill at the public hearing.

Groups like the Progressive Bag Alliance, are promoting the idea that paper bags are worse for the environment than plastic.

"Plastic bags take less energy to produce, and paper bags generate about 70 percent more emissions and 50 percent more water pollutants," said Donna Dempsey, spokesman for the Progressive Bag Alliance. "While we applaud him for trying to make Annapolis more sustainable, this is absolutely going in the wrong direction as far as the environment goes."

Mr. Shropshire said he has placed an emphasis on using recycled and reusable bags to address that concern by the alliance.

One business has already done away with plastic bags.

Last month, the Whole Foods in the Annapolis Harbour Center quit offering plastic bags as an option, and a sandwich board there reminds customers to bring in reusable bags.

"When people reuse bags and see it's not that much of a burden to keep it in the back of the car or in their trunk, it's easy," said Aerin Jacob, business development director for Bags on the Run, the Internet company that provided the bags to Mr. Shropshire. "You can make a pretty major impact by doing something really easy in life. It's a consumer choice causing corporations to look at it."

Mr. Shropshire said his bill is necessary.

"Everywhere I go, all I see are plastic bags," Mr. Shropshire said. "I used to be able to get out and enjoy nature and now, it's just plastic."

Published August. 19, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2007 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.