News from Common Ground Food Co-op

April 2010

PAPER OR PLASTIC?
Jacqueli ne Hannah, General Manager
food nanny

As owners and supporters of Common Ground, that question tends to be a rather unappetizing one. It's supposed to sound like a choice, but some choice. As people who go out of our way to think about the impact of our choices on the environment, our community, and the rest of the world, we know this question could honestly be phrased: "would you like to cut down old growth trees or tropical rainforests or turn oil into plastic that won't bio-degrade and will choke animals and clog sewers?" Ugh.

Some Co-op owners have taken the time to write or call me to ask why the Co-op doesn't offer cornstarch-based plastic bags instead of paper or conventional plastic. It's a good question, and I set aside some hours to find out if these new bags were a real alternative. Unfortunately, the results of my research time were not what I had hoped. Many so-called "biodegradable" bags do, in the right conditions, degrade into smaller pieces of plastic. These small pieces end up choking animals and lining the ocean floor, and they never degrade entirely. Heavy metals like lead are used in the production of these bags. There are some bags made from plastic that truly biodegrades into water, carbon dioxide and non-toxic biomass (whatever that is) but they will only do so successfully in commercial composting facilities. Like most communities, U-C doesn't have one of those yet. And in landfills, these bags either don't biodegrade or worse, they occasionally do. Why worse? When they break down in an oxygen-free environment like a landfill they emit methane gas. Whoops. To top it off, most recycling centers won't accept these plastic bags, so you can't recycle them either.

The truth is that neither paper nor plastic disposable bags are a sustainable option, not even the "biodegradable" ones. The best answer, the most honest one, is that it is time for us to change the question entirely. The real question is: disposable bags or reusable ones? Is it time to say goodbye to disposable bags entirely?

I believe when we look at the facts the answer is a clear "YES." I also believe that Common Ground has a responsibility to lead the way in our community. Your co-op will begin to step up its leadership on this issue this month with a rewards program. Every time you bring your own bags when you shop you can fill out a drawing entry slip at the register to win a $20 gift certificate to Common Ground. As of April 15th, Common Ground will be offering reusable shopping bags for only $.50 each (look for the purple ones!) every day. We also have many fun events planned throughout Earth Week, 4/17-4/22, to increase bag use awareness. Check out this month's events list for more details.

Should Common Ground take it one step further? Should we stop giving out disposable bags for free? International chains like Ikea and Aldi, and many other co-ops around the country are already doing this. Common Ground's management staff has put forward the idea of giving out our last free disposable bag on December 31, 2010. (We'd still have them available for a small fee.) I need your input, owners! What do you think? Should Common Ground lead the way in central Illinois to a disposable-bag-free future by phasing out free bags? Throughout the month of April there will be comment cards about the bag issue at the register. Please weigh in!

From Your Board of Directors