Bag It Corvallis Makes the News

Candice Ruud at the Gazette-Times interviewed Debra Higbee-Sudyka last week about our effort to ban single-use plastic bags here in Corvallis. The article was published in today's paper and it looks great! Here's a link: Plastic bag ban gets push.

The article outlines some of the details that would make our ordinance more effective than the Portland ban. For instance, the 5-cent fee on paper bags will encourage the use of reusable bags (in Portland, most stores simply saw a huge switch to paper). The article also mentions how different local businesses might react to the ban. Some stores, such as Sibling Revelry, already don't use plastic bags. Others like The Clothes Tree hand out thicker plastic bags which can be used again and again. These thicker plastic bags wouldn't be banned by our ordinance, which targets only thin, single-use plastic bags.

For more info, check out the story, or stop by our screening of Bag It tonight at 6 p.m. at the Corvallis Public Library on Monroe Avenue. Our last screening of the documentary is set for Monday at 6 p.m. at OSU's Kearney Hall, 1491 SW Campus Way.

Bag It Petition Goes Online

So far, we've gathered 599 signatures to support our proposed ordinance banning single-use plastic carryout bags in Corvallis. Now you can sign our petition online, too:

Online Petition by iPetitions.com

Upcoming 'Bag It' Film Screenings

Thanks, everyone who attended our screening of Bag It last night at the Unitarian Church! We've added another showing of the film on Monday, Oct. 24. Also, come and join the Bag Monster on Monday, Oct. 24 and Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the OSU Campus Memorial Union Quad. Here's the updated schedule:

Second free showing of the movie Bag It:

When: Friday, Oct. 21

Where: Corvallis Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis

Time: 7 to 9 p.m.

Third free showing of the movie Bag It:

When: Monday, Oct. 24

Where: OSU Kearney Building, Room 112 (14th and Monroe), Corvallis

Time: 6 to 8 p.m.

October 'Bag It' Film Showings

Below is the description of the film Bag It, which we're showing at two locations in Corvallis:

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes—single-use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. But where is “away?” Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health? Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world.

Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded?

When Jeb’s journey takes a personal twist, we see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up with us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

First free showing of the movie Bag It:

When: Sunday, Oct. 16

Where: UU Fellowship, 2945 NW Circle Blvd., Corvallis

Time: 7 to 9 p.m.

Second free showing of the movie Bag It:

When: Friday, Oct. 21

Where: Corvallis Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis

Time: 7 to 9 p.m.

Bag Monster Comes to Corvallis!

Did you see the Bag Monster at today's Saturday Farmers' Market? Debra Higbee-Sudyka of the Marys Peak Group donned the costume while students in the Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) at OSU gathered signatures to support our ordinance.

The result? Overwhelming support from the community for a ban on single-use plastic bags and a 5-cent fee on paper bags to encourage the use of sustainable, reusable bags.

We collected "dozens of pages" of signatures, reported Khang Nguyen, SSI Waste Reduction Coordinator. Too many to count!

We've received "so much support, it's just amazing!" added Higbee-Sudyka.

Thank you, everyone who signed our petition today -- including Carole and Naomi Petersen, who are pictured here (left to right) with the Bag Monster. On Monday, Nov. 7, we will go before the Corvallis City Council with your signatures and a draft of the ordinance.

The Bag Monster -- and your chance to show support by signing our petition -- will return to the Corvallis Farmers' Market from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays during October.