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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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27Mar2011
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I got pretty involved in writing my comments on Monday in regards to women. I obviously feel pretty passionate about the plight of women. Although I enjoyed reading your comments, I was hoping to read more comments about some of the scenes from the Sex And The City II movie that I didn’t bring up, but perhaps a few of you who had more to add, just couldn’t get in.
No big deal, but because it is still on my mind, I just have to briefly touch on one more little thing that bothered me in that movie. I hope you don’t mind. It is a good lead into what I want to end with.
If you saw it, you would recall the scene where the girls are at the night club drinking and partying it up. Charlotte asks why the belly dancers got to wear skimpy clothing, meanwhile Miranda has been reminding the girls to cover up. She did this at the pool scene that I hinted at in my write the other day. Miranda answered Charlotte’s question telling her that it must be some “belly dancer/nightclub loophole.” Yeah a loophole alright…always a loophole when it benefitsthe boys.
Notice how men make the rules: It is okay that women can be uncovered, no burqa, and actually in skimpy clothing, when it is in an establishment that entertains men. Then it is perfectly fine to be sexy and revealing because it is a benefit to the men. But, when a muslim woman is out in public…oh no, you must be covered up, you must not be tempting to the men. That kind of behavior just irks me to no end.
You remember the Muslim Media Watch - I posted a write from there yesterday. I decided to check in and see if Fatemeh had any comments to say about the movie, and she did. In fact they had an open dialogue between a few girls, that I found quite interesting. I won’t get into it, but if you want to read their take on the flick, click here.
In regards to the nightclub scene though, Fatemeh said, that it was most likely human trafficking. Huh, that thought never even crossed my mind. Fatemah furthermore added: “Their karaoke rendition of ‘I Am Woman’ rings pretty hollow when you realize that a lot of the ‘single women’ in Emirati nightclubs are trafficked sex workers.”
In her lifetime, approximately one in three women around the world will suffer violence simply because she is a woman. Sex trafficking, rape during times of war and domestic violence are destructive forces not just for women, but for entire communities. It’s time to change the equation.
This violence against women is a global health crisis and human rights violation that contributes directly to instability and insecurity throughout our world. The U.S. Congress has the power to speak out against this systemic violence against women, and rally support for innovative programs that decrease acts of violence.
Please ask Congress to make women’s safety an urgent priority. Strong leadership could mean the difference between life and death for a woman or girl.
Will: As Kent said to Peter, ‘Be patient’. As the writer of this blog, I reserve the right to post the photos when I feel like posting the photos. :) Don’t fret, you will see more of the lovely Zen Lill.
General Info: Good post. Happiness is a state of mind, and one that can be changed. I can personally attest to that.
Anna: I believe there are always little gems that come out of the mud. This is a good example. Let’s hope there’s a little gem for the beings down under and soon. Hafa Adai.
Zen Lill: Nice. I like that idea. After all, it’s the men’s problem of their lack of self control. What’s shocking to me is the ‘stoning’. I can’t believe that this is a punishment that is around to this day. It is simply barbaric. And the brutal fact that women have no chance of escaping, while the men do is just unbearable.
Norman: If anyone in a position, such as General McChrystal, who is suppose to take orders from the President of the United States, can no longer take orders, then he should do the right thing: Step down from his position and offer to resign. He is no longer qualified for his position, nor competent.
Ruth: I hope that you hear from Anonz soon and that he is well.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
It was a year this past Sunday, July 20th 2009, that Neda Soltan was brutally killed in the streets of Iran. And it was one year ago today that I wrote about her. I can’t believe that one entire year has gone by already. It feels like it was not so long ago when I first heard of Neda, the Angel of Iran.
Her death became a symbol of rebellion; her face, a symbol of hope. Her tragic death quickly went viral: Within just a few hours the rest of the world got to witness her last moments of life on Youtube. It was a vivid image, one so brutal, and yet so peaceful and innocent, that I like many others, will never forget.
How ironic that her name, ‘Neda’ means ‘voice’ in Farsi. Neda was the ‘voice’ of Iran, and a symbol of rebellion and hope, then…and continues to be to this day.
And now one year later, on the anniversary of her death, we get to see the kind of girl that Neda was. What did she want in life? What did she believe in? What did she like to do? Why did she die?
I ask, ‘What has changed for women, for the people of Iran since Neda’s death?’
On July 20th, HBO aired ’For Neda’, as part of their Summer Documentary Series. I believe it is also airing this evening on HBO. I watched it on Youtube last night. For those of you who won’t be able to catch it on HBO, I am including the entire documentary here. I encourage you to watch it. It gives us a good peek into the life of Neda and the disturbing treatment of women in Iran.
Filmmaker Antony Thomas’ look at the life of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot and killed during protests in Iran last summer, when footage of her death went viral. HBO’s synopsis says that the production was done “without official approval and at great risk, [as] Iranian journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan worked secretly inside Iran to locate and film interviews with Neda’s family for the first time.” The network calls the film “a portrait of a young woman whose ordinary desires for personal freedom and self-expression were confined by living in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and notes that “[e]ven as a young girl, Neda strove to lead her life in opposition to the regime’s restrictive treatment of women”
I found this write on the Muslim Media Watch written by Diana that I thought you would also find interesting:
As I snuggled on the couch to watch HBO’s documentary on Neda Agha-Soltan, I knew this wasn’t the time for popcorn. The first images that splashed across the screen were Agha-Soltan’s infamous last moments, which haunted viewers around the world exactly a year ago. The tone of onlookers and loved ones was agonizing, screaming as they crowded around her body, placing their hands over the bullet hole in her chest. As blood began to gush from her mouth and nose, Agha-Soltan’s eyes remained open. It was only a few moments before she died, but the video burned a memory in the hearts of many that will perhaps last for years to come.
The images of Agha-Soltan’s last moments were perhaps the most impressing images of the brutality and violence that unfolded after last year’s Iranian elections. Cell phone cameras and digital cameras became the weapon of choice for many of Iran’s population. They wanted to show the world the injustice they were suffering at the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
HBO’s documentary For Neda delves into the life of Agha-Soltan to answer the questions of who she was, what she stood for, and why she died. The documentary elicits the testimony of Agha-Soltan’s family and recognized names such as Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, and Dr. Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian history at University of St. Andrews. The familiar voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo, an Iranian actress, narrates Agha-Soltan’s tale of courage. (Note: the trailer below contains explicit images of her death)
For Neda provides a limited understanding of the socio-political landscape of Iran and elicits only the testimony and experiences of those with a particular angle. The story of Neda Agha-Soltan was used here to paint a particular picture of Iran seen from the eyes of a certain kind of woman–a woman like Agha-Soltan.
For Iranian women who neither look like Agha-Soltan nor held the same desires or religious or political values as she, the documentary may be marginalizing. For Iranian women who are not like “any girl, anywhere,” it sends the message that their stories are not valued enough to be told and the injustices they face are not worthy of international attention. The diverse political and religious opinions of Iran’s population make it highly unlikely that any one woman could be the “face of the revolution.”
Agha-Soltan was described in the documentary as “a free spirit that is confined by a regime that does not value these qualities in a woman.” She is portrayed as an ordinary girl who loved to dance, listen to music, read books, and who wanted to be loved. Aghdashloo narrates, “In so many ways, any girl, anywhere, but this wasn’t anywhere, this was the Islamic republic of Iran, where even the clothes you wear have a political meaning.”
In between narrated commentary on the politics and status of women in Iran, the documentary gives a look into the life of Agha-Soltan through the testimony of her immediate family. Her story was used as platform to speak about the general status of women in Iran: Googoosh, a superstar who sought asylum outside Iran, and Rudi Bakhtiar of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran give their testimonies of living in Iran post-revolution. Both women offer the same perspective on the treatment of women in Iran and echo the same sentiments about the regime.
Nafisi posits that women seem to be irreligious as a result of the Iranian regime’s hijacking of religion, which translated into government control over women’s clothing. This was unbearable for Agha-Soltan, whose mother points out that she refused to wear the chador in school. There is only one picture shown of Agha-Soltan wearing hijab, perhaps to garner sympathy by reinforcing this sentiment that she was like any other woman and had to abide by Iran’s dress code.
I wondered if Agha-Soltan were pictured wearing the chador, would viewers feel as though they could identify with her? Would she have amassed such support? Or would she have been like many other women who died that year: forgotten? What about other women who were killed during this time? Why weren’t their names and images splashed all over the media and celebrated internationally?
In the days of protesting that followed the elections, Agha-Soltan was approached by three Basij women who said to her, “Dear, don’t come out looking so beautiful… do us a favor and don’t come out because Basiji men target beautiful girls and they will shoot you.”
These disturbingly ominous words, expressed that men, feeling threatened–in this case by a woman’s beauty–place the responsibility of the destruction of religious values on women and therefore attempt to make women invisible or disappear in order to preserve religion and culture.
On, June 20, 2009, this is what happened. However, the attempt to make Agha-Soltan disappear or to make her invisible was to no avail after the video of her death surfaced. Agha-Soltan, a girl like “any girl,” became a martyr. Activists and photojournalists like Reza Deghati went to task making “Neda masks.” They were distributed to over 100 capital cities around the world and were worn by protesters chanting, “We are Neda!”
The video of her death was one among many shocking videos; but unlike the other videos, the video of Agha-Soltan’s death were widely used to garner public sympathy. HBO’s documentary leaves the impression that Agha-Soltan became “the face of the revolution” mainly because she was like any girl anywhere. Through her death, she was able to focus international attention on the violence in Iran and elicit a response from international leaders.
However, Neda Agha-Soltan only represents one of the many faces of Iranian women and of the revolution. Had this been another face, a different Iranian woman, the international response and HBO’s documentary may have been very different.
Readers: I really enjoyed this documentary. Neda has been the symbol of Iran, to me. She was the face that I thought of whenever I heard from the girls in Iran…whenever they got the opportunity to blog me. Her death was the image that reminded me just how strong women are, just how much women can endure, in spite of their daily living conditions, in spite of being valued as half of a man.
The most ‘basic freedoms’ that we American women would never even think about, are daily restrictions women are forced to live by. Can you ever imagine calling ‘the ability to wear make-up how you please, or the clothing of your choice’ a ‘basic freedom’?
I have a new image that I now see when I think of women in Iran, and really any woman who is forced to be and act a certain way. And that image is of women freeing themselves from their hijab, exposing their beauty in all ways, smiling and celebrating their attainment as a whole human, equal to men. I hope to see that day soon.
Comments? Blog me.
Zen Lill: I thought you would enjoy this little bit of fun. Got your message. I was out in the backyard enjoying the last few moments of summer solstice sunlight. Would love to hear what you come up with in your research. Keep us posted – thanks.
Peter: What I don’t understand is why you think I would prevent you from posting? Do you think I enjoy getting hell from my readers, accusing me of preventing them from commenting? Hell no. Even if I could prevent you from posting, which I can, why would I only to hear the wrath of readers such as yourself? I’m not into self-infliction. The only thing I inflict upon myself is pleasure. :) Got it? So, that being said, your statement is a bit illogical don’t ya think? And the accusing gets very old.
Please don’t take this personally. This is meant to be a message to all of my readers who may, and do, think the same ridiculous thoughts. Although I seriously doubt this will be the end of it.
Hamilton: Perhaps you can think on it and get back to me? :) I will look forward to it.
Oh…by the way, Peter, Georgeand Simon: You will get more.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
Here’s the latest on BP and Obama’s demand that BP pay for the damage that the oil spill has caused to our environment and the livelihood of many:
Republicans on the Hill have calculated that President Obama’s successful demand that BP set up a $20 billion escrow account to pay out claims is ripe for political attack. In the wake of Wednesday’s White House announcement, a host of GOP officials are raising questions about both the process by which the deal was made and the deal itself — going so far as to apologize to BP on America’s behalf.
“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) during a hearing on Thursday morning with BP’s CEO Tony Hayward.” I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown — in this case a $20 billion shakedown — with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the American people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that’s unprecedented in our nation’s history, which has no legal standing, which I think sets a terrible precedent for our nation’s future.”
“I’m only speaking for myself. I’m not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize,” Barton added. “I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown.”
Airing criticisms against the notion of forcing BP to fork over $20 billion in liability revenue would seem like a fairly risky proposition considering just how reviled the oil giant is in the current political environment. And Democrats quickly jumped on the congressman’s remark, as well as those from other Republicans, as evidence of a lack of sensitivity for the victims of the spill.
“What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. “Congressman Barton may think that a fund to compensate these Americans is a ‘tragedy’, but most Americans know that the real tragedy is what the men and women of the Gulf Coast are going through right now. Members from both parties should repudiate his comments.”
“While the President has worked to ensure that BP is held fully accountable to the families and small businesses of the Gulf, Republicans and Joe Barton are proving that they are only accountable to BP and the oil industry,” added DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan. “While the President has secured a guarantee of at least $20 billion for Gulf Coast residents, Republicans and Joe Barton have lined their pockets with BP contributions and stock dividends. While the President has gotten BP to rightfully apologize to the American people for their reckless behavior, their inexcusable response and their insulting approach, Republicans are apologizing to BP. Republicans could not have this more backward, and it raises serious questions as to why they are on the side of BP and the oil companies instead of that of the American people.”
Readers: The republicans are once again sticking by them and theirs. Just in case BP survives this financially, the Republicans want Tony Hayward to know that they still have his back, that they still support him, and Big Oil. They want to ensure that they can continue to count on Hayward’s contributions to fill their pockets when needed. And they’re just a tad upset because right now they’re seeing their precious future BP contributions saved for the American people, where it should be.
Sometimes a Shakedown is needed to shake things up. Thoughts? blog me.
Are you kidding me: Hmm…your comments are so familiar – I know who you are. And it is obvious how very little you know about political tact and diplomacy. But yep, I agree with you, there are suckers born every minute…and waiting in the wings is are greedy, self-aggrandizing perpetrators ready to pounce. Which one are you? I get the feeling you’re probably the latter who sits around and does nothing until it affects your livelihood, and then all you do is bitch and blame someone else.
Zen Lill, Helena:To be fair, I do ask for money, but only in the form of donations to my blog, to which I have received to this day: NONE. I know donations are being sent, but I am not receiving them. That is a story in itself that I care not to discuss.
Pearl: My pleasure. Thanks for being a part of it.
Peace out…I’m off to take Lucy to the beach, and then work calls. Have a lovely day everyone!
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
Okay, so picture this: You are a woman, an American woman in the military, fighting for your country in Afghanistan. You can picture this…Women in the military…No big deal right? Women are over there just like the men…doing what they signed up to do.
A man decides he wants to have a little fun, play around, you know…’hook up’. No big deal. A woman decides to do the same. Again, no big deal right? Ah…but wait, what if the woman accidently gets pregnant, or worse what if she gets raped, or gang raped, and then she discovers she is pregnant? Check out this stat:
According to NPR, “In 2003, a survey of female veterans found that 30 percent said they were raped in the military. A 2004 study of veterans who were seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder found that 71 percent of the women said they were sexually assaulted or raped while serving. And a 1995 study of female veterans of the Gulf and earlier wars, found that 90 percent had been sexually harassed.”
And with this many women getting raped, some are going to get pregnant. Getting raped in the military by the men that you are serving with is a big deal in itself, not to mention how horrific. I mean, where is the camaraderie? But then to have to endure the discovery that you are pregnant, stuck overseas, and can’t get the care that you need even in a military hospital andeven if you pay for it…now that should be criminal.
Right now, women who serve in the military in places like Afghanistan have nowhere to turn if they face an unintended pregnancy because of an abortion ban. Women in the military unfortunately get the raw end of the deal, and it’s time for it to end.
We are just a few steps shy of ending a ban on military women’s ability to use their own money to access abortion.
Anti-choice politicians are digging in to keep the ban in place. One senator from Mississippi even called on his anti-choice colleagues to prepare for a big fight.1
More and more women are fighting in the military in places like Afghanistan, where abortion is illegal, unsafe, or strictly limited. Servicewomen facing an unintended pregnancy in these circumstances literally have nowhere to turn.
We can fix this situation just by giving women who serve in the military the same rights they would have if they had any other job. Ending the ban would mean that servicewomen could personally pay for abortion care at a military hospital where it’s safe.
We already had a huge victory: an important Senate committee (the Senate Armed Services Committee) voted to end the ban at the end of May. Now we must get a majority of senators to do the same when the bill comes to the floor.
We have our best chance in years to win, but anti-choice Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has threatened to keep the ban in place, saying, “I guarantee you this will be challenged on the floor of the House and Senate with separate amendments.”2
Thanks for helping us put an end to a cruel and politically motivated ban that puts our servicewomen at risk.
Readers: Why there was ever a ban to begin with is just mens’ way of, once again, trying to control women. Amazing that the men in the military can rape women in the military and the women can’t even get an abortion in the military hospital. In my opinion, not only should this ban be stopped, but women shouldn’t have to pay for an abortion out of their own pockets when it is the men in the military who are the perpetrators. But hey, if that is the only way for a military woman to be able to get an abortion, then we need to support this campaign to end the ban. Can you please write a letter? Thanks.
Zen Lill: I got your media photo but was out all day with a client. I hope that the event went well! So..did you all do nails for the 8 hours and break the record?
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
I was just saying to Doug a few weeks ago that I think grocery stores should no longer have bags (plastic or paper) available at the counter when the cashier rings up your purchases. If someone forgets to bring a bag when they go shopping, there will be containers of used bags available for free, or they can buy a reusable eco friendly bag (some are so cool) that the store sells, so that they will have something to pack their goods in. I say bag the bag. We’re using too many trees and our world is littered with plastic bags.
Here’s The 10 Second Plastic Bag Lesson: I found this printed on the side of the box of the only plastic bags I use: BioBag, the certified biodegradable compostable plastic bag.
Regular Polyethylene-based plastic bags can take over 100 years to degrade and are not compostable.
Less than 2% of all plastic bags ever get recycled.
Plastic bags litter our streets, backwoods and waterways.
Studies indicate that 100,000 marine animals and 2 million birds die every year from ingesting and being caught up in plastic debris. (And we thought the BP spill was bad enough. Why isn’t this on the news everyday?!)
Some manufacturers are blending additives to polyethylene to produce ‘degradable’ bags. Unfortunately this process fragments the bags into pieces of plastic debris that do not meet the ASTM D6400 standard for compostable plastic.
BioBag is proud to be the best selling brand of 100% biodegradable and certified compostable bags made from the material, Mater-Bi. We are also proud to be the first “bag from corn” to achieve national distribution of retail products through natural food stores across the country.
Recently, the city of San Francisco selected BioBag to promote their residential food waste collection program. The city is sending 100,000 rolls of BioBags to residents within the county to help educate consumers on the importance of diverting food and other biodegradable waste from entering landfills. San Francisco residents can now purchase additional supplies at over 100 outlets in the bay area. BioBag is proud to be a partner in this important effort.
We have listed below facts and data regarding BioBag products:
BioBag products are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute to meet the ASTM D6400 specification. The BPI logo is shown at the bottom of this page. Always look for the logo to assure the products you buy are truly biodegradable and compostable.
BioBag products meet the California law, SB 1749 and 1979, for biodegradable and compostable product claims.
BioBags are certified GMO Free. Furthermore, we only source corn from countries that do not allow GMO testing.
No polyethylene is used in the production of BioBags.
BioBags are DEN certified for restricted use of metals in our soy-based inks and dyes.
There are no chemical additives to enhance decomposition. The bags biodegrade naturally when expose to the earth’s elements and micro-organisms in the soil.
BioBags “breathe”, which allows heat and moisture to escape or evaporate. This feature reduces bacterial build-up of collected waste, thus reducing odor.
BioBags will decompose in a controlled composting environment in 10-45 days, leaving no harmful residues behind.
BioBags will decompose in a natural setting at an extended rate comparable to other naturally biodegradable materials, such as paper, leaves and food waste.
BioBags will biodegrade in both fresh and salt water. Australian studies suggest decomposition occurs between 8-14 months. We do not support placing any material in our oceans, lakes or waterways.
Landfill Placement of BioBags:
BioBags are designed to be composted and returned naturally back to the earth. If BioBags are placed in an “open” or “turned” landfill they will decompose at a rate similar to other biodegradable materials in the same setting. If BioBags are placed in an anaerobic (air-locked) landfill and deprived of oxygen and the existence of the micro-organisms that “eat” naturally biodegradable materials, their ability to decompose will be severely restricted. This is true of all biodegradable materials placed in this setting, including paper, yard waste and food waste.
As a consumer, you should be quite suspicious of any manufacturer making claims that their products will biodegrade quickly in an air-locked landfill.
Then the other day Doug e-mailed me to tell me that there’s a new law that Arnold Schwarzenegger is planning on signing that will ban plastic bags from being given away in grocery stores. Recycled paper bags will still be available but they will have to pay $.05 each – Hey I like that. It’s a good start and a long time coming if you ask me.
Remember how ten or twenty years ago, a trip to the grocery store always concluded with the same question: “Paper or plastic?” That question has largely been answered, as grocers now default to plastic about 80 percent of the time. Those plastic bags are cheap, convenient — and an environmental menace. At best, they mar the landscape, lending an aimless, trashy vibe to urban streets. Far more disturbingly, they clog our landfills, use up nonrenewable resources such as petroleum, and kill wildlife both on land and in water, according to the Earth Resource Foundation.
Some communities and even entire countries are attempting to kick the plastic bag habit by taxing them, encouraging citizens to switch to reusable shopping bags. The state of California may be next, according to the L.A. Times. Bill AB 1998 would take things a bit farther than a simple tax, however — it would enforce an outright ban. Customers who forget to bring reusable bags to the store would have the option to pay a minimum of 5 cents apiece for recycled paper bags.
The bill passed in the California State Assembly last Wednesday. If the Senate votes similarly, the new law would go into effect in 2012. Californians’ reactions are, perhaps predictably, mixed. Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called it “a great victory for our environment” and promised to sign it into law when it crosses his desk. Some of his Republican colleagues, however, worry that the new law creates undue financial burden during an already rough economy. “This is not the time to be putting a financial burden on families,” Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Granite Bay, told the L.A. Times.
Store-goers’ reactions vary as much as the politicians’ do. “It’s a hassle. I don’t want to carry my own bag all the time with me. I go into the store randomly, and I don’t like to pay extra for a bag,” said Sacramento shopper Brett Akacin when asked his opinion on the bill. But another Sacramento resident, Ashley Smith, expressed more openness to the idea because, as she put it, “It’s good to do things that are good for the environment.
Readers: When I read the first paragraph stating that 80% of the people who go grocery shopping opt for the plastic bag, my mouth dropped. But then I realized that most people unfortunately are still shopping at Safeway, Vons or whatever else is comparable in their town. And Plastic is the bag. Part of the reason I don’t shop those stores is mostly because they don’t carry the food I like, but I am appalled when I see plastic bag after plastic bag filled with food, being carried out. Don’t people realize or care about the amount of plastic that is being used?
I shop at Trader Joes, Whole Foods or Berkeley Bowl, and most people who shop there rarely take a paper bag; they are bringing their own reusable. In fact I don’t even know if you can still get plastic at those stores. But I have to say, I am lucky that I live the Bay Area so I have access to grocery stores that care and make an effort to educate their patrons. I refuse to shop in stores that aren’t doing something sustainable. And even the ones I mentioned above, I feel can do more.
Still, I shop where I shop, and pay a little bit more. But I know it’s better for all. I don’t care how broke I am, I will skimp where I need to in other areas of my life, but I am not going to skimp when it comes to my health or the animals and the environment. And like the saying goes, “You can pay for it now or you can pay for it later at the doctor’s office.” I opt for now, knowing I am not only treating myself well, but my choices are better for the animals and the environment. I got a little off subject but I just had to throw that in.
So…back to banning the bag…
And then to read that some people think it is a hassle. “I don’t want to carry my bag all of the time.” Oh boo hoo -please, spare me the drama and laziness. Keep the bags in your trunk and carry one in when you go shopping. How difficult is that? Isn’t saving our environment worth a little hassle? Once you forget it a few times and you have to run back to your car, believe me you’ll learn quick enough. Just make it a habit like bringing your purse or your wallet. Easy and hassle-free.
What’dya say…Let’s bag the bag and ban it! You know I’m all for it…country wide. And if you live in California, ‘Arnie’ doesn’t need any urging to sign this ban. As stated in the article above, he’s in favor of it and promises to sign it. I think victory is in the bag. Pun intended. :)
Oh, my disclaimer: No, I am not getting any free Biobags (I wish!), nor any perks from any of the stores mentioned above. However, I do believe in these products, and I do love shopping at those grocery stores, so it is my pleasure to toot a bit about them.
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Zen Lill: My pleasure. I know you’re with me on this one.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog.If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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