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Bag Ladies go green for Earth Day
Published Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Bag ladies are taking over Fergus Falls — or at least they hope to.
A people-driven movement to replace plastic shopping bags with cloth bags is beginning to spark a new trend in the area.
Although opting for cloth isn’t a new concept, the Bag Lady Project is encouraging people to now finally make the switch.
And it seems to be working.
At an Earth Day celebration Tuesday at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls, Mayor Russell Anderson proclaimed that Fergus Falls will be plastic shopping bag free by Jan. 1, 2010.
“The retailers are in. They’re not resisting this whatsoever,” said Bonnie Bell Ewert, coordinator of this year’s Bag Lady Project.
The project began last June with an idea to use old material to create new earth-friendly shopping bags for the community. Sandy Barnhouse led the sewing effort, which began in January at the Unitarian Church. Bert Whitcombe also helped coordinate the Bag Lady Project, or in his case, the Bag Laddie Project. He said grass-roots development has been key to the group’s success.
“I think we’ve all discovered that in order to get things done, it has to start with relations with people,” said Whitcombe. “Every part of this process is because people are excited about this.”
On Earth Day in Fergus Falls Tuesday, the bag ladies had a special stand, equipped with four sewing machines open for public use. Participants were able to choose from an assortment of recycled material and take a shot at making their very own shopping bag. Ready-made bags were also available. Project workers did encourage donations, to help out with the cost of pamphlets, but were happy enough with people’s commitment to the cause.
“It’s more important to get people to use them than to pay for them,” said Barnhouse.
Barnhouse said that learning how to remember to take the bag into the store is the most difficult and important part of the plan. And just to be sure that people are remembering, bag ladies will be staking out local grocery and department stores, waiting to surprise those that are with gift certificates for area businesses.
“We’re going to catch people catching on and we are going to reward them,” Ewert said.
Plastic bags are a petroleum oil-based product, and with the cost of gas skyrocketing, Ewert said now is a better time than ever to start thinking about the economic impact.
It is estimated that it takes roughly 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down and decompose. The Fergus Falls community deals with an estimated 242 tons of plastic shopping bag garbage a year, Anderson said. Ewert compared this weight to that of 121 elephants.
Project workers are encouraging community members to jump on the bandwagon. For those more comfortable with computers than sewing machines, the group is currently seeking web designers for a Web site. It is also accepting leftover fabric.
“Most importantly, start getting involved carrying cloth bags to the stores,” Ewert said.
For more information visit www.bagladyproject.net
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by tsy86h (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if someone could use worn blue jeans to make these bags. I am sure there are many people like me who have kids that wear out the knees in jeans faster than they can buy new ones. The rest of the fabric is usually really good on them. I don't know how to sew and so my worn jeans just go into the trash.
Posted by chipmunk (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The mayor “proclaimed”? When was he declared King? I was against plastic bags, but now I’m going to use them just to poke my finger in the eye of the King.
Posted by skatkat (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
boy aren't these ladies gung-ho about getting rid of plastic bags--I wonder what do they use in thier garbage cans?? maybe they need to let the people choose....
Posted by bonniebellewert (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You can use worn blue jeans to make a great bags with handy pockets that are quite durable. A gal I know just made a number of bags from pants. I'll see about having her "how to" instructions uploaded to the bagladyproject.net website as soon as possible.
Posted by skatkat (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
a good point was just brought up-- maybe fergus falls should have a people driven movement to get rid of the meth problem before tackling the poor plastic bags. doesn't meth runoff cause more of a environmental hazard than the bags? and i hope the gift certificates and pamphlets that they are giving out are made from recycled paper...
Posted by melindakay (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 6:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of you are so negative. It's a great step in the right direction for the mayor to make such a proclamation. Much more than our President is doing!
Posted by greenveggie (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 8:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The kind of narrow thoughts expressed here are the reason that talented young people leave Fergus. If you have an issue with something, don't comment on it, do something about it. If here is a meth problem, help provide opportunity and education to prevent the demand for the drugs. Create economic opportunity so that people don't feel like the best option to support their family is something illegal. At least they are doing something about it instead of just sitting around waiting for someone else.
As for plastic garbage bags, there are many alternatives, many people use them. They also work to reduce the number of bags used for garbage by reducing what they throw away, like oh, plastic bags from stores, unnecessary packaging, unwanted/unused items.
Posted by chipmunk (anonymous) on April 23, 2008 at 8:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have no problem with doing away with plastic bags, as a matter of fact I think it’s a good idea. I do have a problem with the mayor “proclaiming” Fergus “will” be bag free by a date certain. He should have said “it would be nice if” or “I would like to see Fergus bag free by whatever”. Then again he probably never proclaimed anything, it could just be another case of the journal putting their words in someone else’s mouth.
Posted by Brandon (anonymous) on April 24, 2008 at 7:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"it could just be another case of the journal putting their words in someone else’s mouth."
most likely...
Posted by sametoyou (anonymous) on April 24, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
jeez, I hope some of you are just kidding around. If not , get out of the house or at least off the computer for awhile. Man, you need to get out experience something good, before your brains explode. The mayor was asked to do this harmless little proclamation, that wasn't gonna hurt soul. These people are just trying to do something good for the enviroment, and all you can do is act stupid! Believe me, it's not going to cause you harm, so get over it!!
Posted by thinkB4Uspeak (anonymous) on April 24, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I bought some green bags at Service Food about a month ago and keep them in the back seat of my car. They're really nice. Sometimes I forgot to bring them in to the grocery store, but I'm getting better at it. It's a simple thing to do and has cut down on the amount of my weekly garbage. Thanks to everyone involved for bringing this simple idea into the public realm of discussion and thought.
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