Earth 2100 is a special that aired on June 3rd which is a doomsday scenario about what "could" happen if we don't stop polluting the earth, using up our natural resources, and emitting greenhouse gases. There are so many things you can do as an individual to help to save our planet. Stop using plastic bags for one!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Paper, plastic or – neither?
Would a Shopping Bag Tax Make You Use Re-Usable Bags?
Watch the ABC news video clip here.
That’s what environmentalists would prefer. Across the country, local governments are starting to enact shopping bag taxes in an effort to cut-down on the amount of waste the bags make. Some estimates are that every year 100 billion plastic bags and 10 billion paper bags are disposed. That means a loss of 14 million trees, and tons of used bags clogging up the nation’s landfills.
Outside the U.S., taxes on shopping bags aren’t new. They charge 33 cents per bag in Ireland, and 90 percent of shoppers there now carry re-usable cloth bags.
San Francisco took action and banned plastic bags two years ago, and the city council in Washington D.C. just approved a 5 cent tax per bag. But the question is – will it work? Will a bag tax cut down on waste, or is it just another expense for already cash-strapped consumers? How much would it have to cost per bag to get you to shop with re-usable bags?
SamBags are an easy, fun, and chic way to help save the environment.
Watch the ABC news video clip here.
That’s what environmentalists would prefer. Across the country, local governments are starting to enact shopping bag taxes in an effort to cut-down on the amount of waste the bags make. Some estimates are that every year 100 billion plastic bags and 10 billion paper bags are disposed. That means a loss of 14 million trees, and tons of used bags clogging up the nation’s landfills.
Outside the U.S., taxes on shopping bags aren’t new. They charge 33 cents per bag in Ireland, and 90 percent of shoppers there now carry re-usable cloth bags.
San Francisco took action and banned plastic bags two years ago, and the city council in Washington D.C. just approved a 5 cent tax per bag. But the question is – will it work? Will a bag tax cut down on waste, or is it just another expense for already cash-strapped consumers? How much would it have to cost per bag to get you to shop with re-usable bags?
SamBags are an easy, fun, and chic way to help save the environment.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Some Cities To Ban Plastic Bags
A 10 minute film about the ubiquitous plastic bag. Nasa even found one floating in space recently!
April 2009
Some Cities To Ban Plastic Bags
Additional taxes being proposed to help spur environmental consciousness.
By CSD Staff
The trend away from plastic bags has been growing since IKEA because the first major U.S. retailer to stop carrying free plastic bags in March 2007. Stores in a variety of markets have since followed the company's example by encouraging consumers to bring their own bags, while cities across the nation also have joined in the cause, banning or taxing plastic bags because of their negative environmental impact.
Cities that are considering a ban or have already banned retail availability of disposable plastic bags, or are taxing plastic bags include Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, District of Columbia, Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Seattle, Portland and West Sacramento.
Plastic bag recycling centers and collection sites are now appearing outside retail outlets or are planned in cities including Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas and New York. In addition, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Orlando and San Diego are supporting voluntary programs that encourage use of reusable shopping bags, as well as disposable plastic bag recycling.
What's wrong with plastic? Americans throw away about 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags, per year and recycle less than 1%. Single-use bags made of high-density polyethylene are the main problem because they will accumulate and remain on our planet for up to a thousand years.
Paper bags are also not the best alternative. Ten pallets of paper bags equals one pallet of plastic, also increasing the CO2 footprint. It takes 14 million trees to produce 10 billion grocery bags.
Walk the talk with reusable SamBags everyday! Look chic and help save the planet.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Andrew Dice Clay's Charity: StandUp For Kids
Well if you watched Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday you know that Andrew Dice Clay got fired. The show is fun to watch and on the first show of this season the men's team was a complete train wreck. Unfortunately Andrew Dice Clay's charity was StandUp For Kids and wow they must be so disappointed because I know I am!
Last year I decided to support SUFK after I learned about them and what great things they do. StandUp for Kids finds and helps teens who find themselves on the street.
Young and homeless
By Danielle M. Williamson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER — Richard L. Koca was looking for fast food wrappers, footprints and makeshift shelters. As he embarked on his search downtown last month, a group of men and women followed him, eager to see what he’d find.
“You need to look for some signs of where they are,” said Mr. Koca, the founder of StandUp for Kids, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that seeks out and helps homeless and street kids. “Follow the wrappers. If you see a lot from Dunkin’ Donuts, that tells you they’re probably hanging out there.”
Mr. Koca led the group to the Main Street Dunkin’ Donuts and talked to a cashier who confirmed that she regularly served some kids suspected to be homeless.
Now the volunteers will be all the more informed when they set out on their weekly outreach walk, scouring the city’s worst neighborhoods. They offer food, clothing and hygiene products, and arm themselves with cards listing the number of help hotlines
Chosen as the charity for which Andrew Dice Clay will raise money this year on Donald Trump’s, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” StandUp for Kids has branches in 40 cities. A group of about 20 volunteers from Central Massachusetts, led by Clark University senior Robert J. Donnelly, started outreach here last April.
Mr. Koca flew from Atlanta last month to tour the city and give volunteers hints about how to find a kid who might be in trouble.
The homeless and street kid population here, volunteers explained, does not fit the book definition of “homeless.” Rather, kids “couch-surf,” bouncing from place to place and getting shelter when they can: with friends or in motels. Sleeping on the streets is not the norm.
The organization estimates that street kids comprise 27 percent of the homeless population nationwide.
“I like the approach StandUp for Kids takes,” said Mr. Donnelly, a New Jersey native who launched the Worcester chapter of the organization in the fall of 2007. “We ask, ‘What do you need and how can I give it to you.’ ”
Worcester native Jose Alvarez knows the city’s streets. He can point out places homeless are likely to stay: under bridges, in dark alleyways and nestled above exhaust vents.
“I used to ride my bike to work at Shaw’s on Goldstar Boulevard,” Mr. Alvarez said. “I’d see the spots.”
Now, he’s an assistant outreach director for the nonprofit. He regularly walks the streets Tuesday nights, handing cards to kids he suspects might need help. Remembering names, he said, is a must: if the kids take him up on his offer, he wants them to know they matter.
Handing out the cards eliminates the awkwardness of assuming someone is homeless who may actually not be, volunteers say. In addition, it makes the recipient of the card feel more comfortable.
The group didn’t find any homeless kids in its tour with Mr. Koca on a recent Saturday afternoon. Volunteers did, however, come across 21-year-old Dennis Weeks, who told them he’d been living in a broken down car for two months while the mother of his children stayed in the PIP shelter.
Mr. Koca asked Mr. Weeks if he knew any kids who were in trouble. Mr. Weeks had just met a teen who was couch-surfing because he didn’t want to stay with his father.
“He’s a good kid but his dad sells dope and he doesn’t know his mother,” Mr. Weeks said. “I met him outside the shelter. I’ll look for him and give him this card — he can use it more than I can.”
Last year I decided to support SUFK after I learned about them and what great things they do. StandUp for Kids finds and helps teens who find themselves on the street.
Watch more Celebrity Apprentice videos on AOL Video
Young and homeless
By Danielle M. Williamson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER — Richard L. Koca was looking for fast food wrappers, footprints and makeshift shelters. As he embarked on his search downtown last month, a group of men and women followed him, eager to see what he’d find.
“You need to look for some signs of where they are,” said Mr. Koca, the founder of StandUp for Kids, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that seeks out and helps homeless and street kids. “Follow the wrappers. If you see a lot from Dunkin’ Donuts, that tells you they’re probably hanging out there.”
Mr. Koca led the group to the Main Street Dunkin’ Donuts and talked to a cashier who confirmed that she regularly served some kids suspected to be homeless.
Now the volunteers will be all the more informed when they set out on their weekly outreach walk, scouring the city’s worst neighborhoods. They offer food, clothing and hygiene products, and arm themselves with cards listing the number of help hotlines
Chosen as the charity for which Andrew Dice Clay will raise money this year on Donald Trump’s, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” StandUp for Kids has branches in 40 cities. A group of about 20 volunteers from Central Massachusetts, led by Clark University senior Robert J. Donnelly, started outreach here last April.
Mr. Koca flew from Atlanta last month to tour the city and give volunteers hints about how to find a kid who might be in trouble.
The homeless and street kid population here, volunteers explained, does not fit the book definition of “homeless.” Rather, kids “couch-surf,” bouncing from place to place and getting shelter when they can: with friends or in motels. Sleeping on the streets is not the norm.
The organization estimates that street kids comprise 27 percent of the homeless population nationwide.
“I like the approach StandUp for Kids takes,” said Mr. Donnelly, a New Jersey native who launched the Worcester chapter of the organization in the fall of 2007. “We ask, ‘What do you need and how can I give it to you.’ ”
Worcester native Jose Alvarez knows the city’s streets. He can point out places homeless are likely to stay: under bridges, in dark alleyways and nestled above exhaust vents.
“I used to ride my bike to work at Shaw’s on Goldstar Boulevard,” Mr. Alvarez said. “I’d see the spots.”
Now, he’s an assistant outreach director for the nonprofit. He regularly walks the streets Tuesday nights, handing cards to kids he suspects might need help. Remembering names, he said, is a must: if the kids take him up on his offer, he wants them to know they matter.
Handing out the cards eliminates the awkwardness of assuming someone is homeless who may actually not be, volunteers say. In addition, it makes the recipient of the card feel more comfortable.
The group didn’t find any homeless kids in its tour with Mr. Koca on a recent Saturday afternoon. Volunteers did, however, come across 21-year-old Dennis Weeks, who told them he’d been living in a broken down car for two months while the mother of his children stayed in the PIP shelter.
Mr. Koca asked Mr. Weeks if he knew any kids who were in trouble. Mr. Weeks had just met a teen who was couch-surfing because he didn’t want to stay with his father.
“He’s a good kid but his dad sells dope and he doesn’t know his mother,” Mr. Weeks said. “I met him outside the shelter. I’ll look for him and give him this card — he can use it more than I can.”
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President Barack Obama with 10% off on your SamBag orders until January 21!
Celebrate the Inauguration of our 44th President Barack Obama with 10% off on your SamBag orders until January 21! Use coupon discount code OBAMA (cannot be used with other offers).Go back to SamBag site.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Use It Again Sam's FAV charity STAND UP FOR KIDS
Nadine & Co. has partnered with Stand Up For Kids donating bags for their fund raising events. The mission of STANDUP FOR KIDS is to help homeless and street kids.
StandUp For Kids has been chosen for Celebrity Apprentice. Watch the premiere March 1, 9-11pm on NBC to see which Celebrity has picked StandUp!
"helping kids and saving the planet one bag at a time"
Go back to SamBag site.
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