Disposable Bags, Usage at Select
PSU Retailers and a Plan For
Reduction
Nate Birkholz, Jessica Standley and
Bo Xiao
What American Plastic Manufacturing
Says
• MYTH: Taxing grocery bags or banning plastic
bags will reduce greenhouse gasses and save the
planet.
• TRUTH: Since bags are a minimal contributor to
all the problems associated with them (oil use,
litter, landfill volume, etc.), bans and taxes simply
won't do anything for the environment. And
because the alternatives all require more fuel to
create, recycle, and transport, eliminating plastic
bags actually increases greenhouse gasses.
http://www.apmbags.com/bagmyths
What We Found
• TRUTH: Since bags are a minimal contributor to
all the problems associated with them (oil use,
litter, landfill volume, etc.), bans and taxes simply
won't do anything for the environment. And
because the alternatives all require more fuel to
create, recycle, and transport, eliminating plastic
bags actually increases greenhouse gasses.
• MYTH: Taxing grocery bags or banning plastic
bags will reduce greenhouse gasses and save the
planet.
Our Project
• Research the usage of disposable bags at
select retailers
• Research the carbon emissions from these
bags from production and transportation
• Propose a way to reduce the usage of these
disposable bags
• Survey Portland State students on usage and
possible effects of our proposal
Usage at Three Select Retailers
• The Student Store in Smith uses approximately
10,000 biodegradable disposable bags
annually.
• The Green Line Market is projected to use
about 3,000 disposable bags annually.
• The Portland State Bookstore uses
approximately 50,000 Linear low-density
polyethylene (LLDPE) bags annually
CO2 emission in production phase
4000
3600
CO2 emission (lbs)
3200
2800
2400
2000
1600
1200
800
400
0
Student Store +Green Line
Book Store
Total
Transportation
• The Student Store in Smith uses bags that are
manufactured in China and distributed in
Portland.
• The Green Line Market uses bags that are
manufactured in Ohio and shipped to Portland
from a distributer California.
• The Portland State Bookstore uses bags that
are manufactured and distributed in
California.
CO2 emission in transportation phase
1600
CO2 emission(lbs)
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Green Line
Student Stroe
Book Store
Total
Total Carbon emissions for three stores
6000
CO2 emission(lbs)
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Production
Tansportation
Total
Our Proposal
• In Washington, D.C. starting this year a five
cent fee was placed on disposable bags. In the
first month, estimated bag usage went from
an estimated 22 million per month to an
estimated three million.
• We propose implemented a similar fee at the
Student Store, Green Line Market and the
Portland State Bookstore.
Survey
• Do you use plastic bags from the bookstore?_________
• If no, what do you use? Back pack, tote, arms, shoulder
bag?_________(finished)
• If yes, would you continue to use the bags if you had to pay $0.05
for them?________(continue)
• How many bags would you say you use per term?________
• What do you do with the bags after you are done with them?
• Reuse for trash liner
• Throw away into trash
• Litter
• Other
Usage and Effect of Proposed Fee
• 38% of students surveyed use bags with an
average use of two per term (6 per year).
• 44% of students surveyed that do use bags
would choose to pay the five cent fee while
the remaining 56% would choose to use
another method rather than pay.
People That Do Not Use Disposable Bags
12
Backpacks
19
50
Totes
"Just Carry"
Shoulder Bags
19
Disposal of Disposable Bags
6
13
37
Reuse as Trash Liner
Throw Away
Reuse for Pets
13
Reuse as Bags
Recycle
31
Possible Benefits to the Proposed Fee
• Based on the survey, the proposed fee would
lead to a reduction of disposable bag usage
down to approximately 26,000 per year.
• The fee would generate $1,300 dollars
annually that could go towards funding carbon
saving projects
• Carbon emissions from disposable bag usage
from these retailers would drop by more than
half
Implementation
• The Student Store in Smith has a contract with
ASPSU. ASPSU negotiates retailer contracts
every two years and could implement the fee.
• The Green Line Market could choose to
implement the fee internally.
• The Portland State Bookstore is a private nonprofit. It too could choose to implement the
fee.
Discussion
• Feelings on a proposed fee?