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    FancyEnglish          A Ban on Plastic           课件首页

        November 27, 2007

(CNN Student News) -- November 27, 2007 A Ban on Plastic LLOYD: Now, a lot of times when you hear the word "biodegradable," people are talking about trash. So, what happens to waste that can't be broken down? Well, it piles up in landfills around the country; not the most environmentally-friendly option. That's part of the reason why San Francisco decided to ban plastic bags. As Chris Lawrence explains, the decision is having an immediate impact on checkout lines at the grocery store. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STORE CLERK: Paper or plastic? CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN REPORTER: Now imagine being asked, "Paper or biodegradable, compostable bag?" Doesn't have the same ring and it's more expensive. But it's the price San Francisco residents have to pay to get rid of hundreds of millions of plastic bags littering the city. PERSON ON THE STREET: Plastic, I can grip it better and hold the bag better than I can with the paper. PERSON ON THE STREET: I don't think it's good if it's going to cost the grocers more and the consumer more. LAWRENCE: The California Grocers Association says regular plastic bags cost a penny or two. Paper's 5 to 8 cents. Special biodegradable bags are 10 to 16 cents. DAVE HEYLEN, CALIFORNIA GROCERS ASSOCIATION: Bags are a part of doing business. So, what can't be absorbed will have to be passed on to consumers. MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO: Nonsense. With all due respect to the Grocers Association, they have no one to blame but themselves. LAWRENCE: Mayor Gavin Newsom says San Francisco considered charging grocers a fee on each plastic bag. The mayor says grocers used their political muscle at the state level and got the legislature to prohibit cities from imposing such a charge. With no power to slow the spread of plastic bags, the city banned them. NEWSOM: When they double-bag with plastic and they bring 10 or 15 of these things home, they have to realize where these things go. And they end up in landfills and they don't biograde. LAWRENCE: Despite the encouraging notice -- which most people never read -- city officials say only 1 or 2 percent of these bags ever got recycled. They're hoping for better luck convincing shoppers to bring their own. This is just the latest effort to go green. Last month, San Francisco asked everyone in the city to turn off all non-essential lights for one hour. And earlier this year, the mayor stopped the city from buying bottled water. This time Bay area shoppers won't be alone. Oakland and Paris have passed similar bans on plastic bags, and it's up for a vote in London. Chris Lawrence, CNN, San Francisco. (END VIDEO CLIP)

  

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