San Francisco activists are trying to catch up to India, where plastic bags have been banned in its largest state and several other places. How? By covering themselves in plastic bags (i.e. dressing up as “Bag Monsters.”)

You have to love these pics. I can’t wait to see the ones from the event, and wish I were there to join in.

The Bag Monster Blog is organizing an activist event next week to promote a proposed ban on plastic bags in California. If you’re in the area, they need you to join in.

Regarding the upcoming bill, the Bag Monster Blog writes:

Every year Californians are estimated to use 19 billion plastic bags – many of which will end up in our rivers and oceans causing major harm and damage to our precious eco-systems. A ban on plastic bags is one of the biggest single cuts we can make to reduce marine debris pollution. California Bill, AB 1998 would ban single-use plastic bags in California for good! As senators gather this August to vote we need to make sure we are heard and that this bill passes!

Regarding the activist event, their calling for 100 of you San Franciscans to turn out for this on August 12 to become a Bag Monster for a day:

We need YOU to wear a Bag Monster costume on August 12, 2010 @ Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco at our “Don’t Feed the Bag Monster” event. We will provide the costume, a free reusable bag, snacks and water. Join us as we let the state know that we are fed up with the unnecessary waste of single-use bags!

For more information on the event, visit the Bag Monster blog.

Or, you or your organization can contact Becca Schwalm directly @ (530) 342-4426 x224 or bagmonster@chicobag.com if you are interested in participating.

Images via the Bag Monster Blog

Some great recent news from the Important Media network.

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Some great recent news from the Important Media network.

The Inspired Economist

Walmart and Seventh Generation have joined forces to bring sustainable products to the masses!

Emily DeMasi discusses an excellent documentary about America’s dependence on foreign oil titled FUEL and asks “Why have I not seen this before???”

“Summer travel doesn’t always have to entail long airport security lines or expensive fill-ups at the pump. In fact, you can see much of the East Coast for as little as $1!” Read more: “Travel Green! An eco-friendly option.”

Ecopreneurist

Jeff Cain does a great job of discussing the biggest key to green building this week, location!

Jeff also has a good piece on how data and technology can make us greener.

Green Building Elements

There is good news and bad news for solar energy lately. On story that can go under both categories is this one: “Demand for Solar Panels Drains Supply“

One that can go straight into the good news category is: “Welcoming the World’s First Molten Salt Concentrating Solar Power Plant”

Eat.Drink…Better.

Some folks think genetically modified (GM) food is great; some think it’s horrible (e.g. me). But, really, shouldn’t people at least have the right to know if food is GM or not? You would think so, but making this so has been a long hard struggle. Heather Carr has a post about a bill on this matter moving through Congress right now: “The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act – H.R. 5577”

On the personal scale, don’t waste your delicious, non-GM, home-grown fruits and veggies this year. Racel Fox tells you how in “Canning your Goods: Tips for Home Food Preservation”

Making a case against bottled water, Becky Striepe has a wonder infographic on “Why You Should Stop Drinking Bottled Water” — check it out.

These are actually the three most recent of dozens of good posts on Eat.Drink…Better. this week. Rather than flood you with little excerpts, I’ll just recommend you head on over there to check them all out.

EcoLocalizer

Dave Dempsey discussed the recent Michigan oil spill and the questions it raises over on EcoLocalizer yesterday, while Rhonda Winter discussed the Louisiana oil spill a few days ago.

Rhonda also discusses “how incredibly pervasive the influence of the massive petroleum industry is within our government, academia and society” with the help of a great Rachel Maddow/MSNBC video.

And Dave Dempsey has a piece we should all care about: “New Study: Pollution Costs Children and Economy”

Fail Drill

For informative but depressing news via Fail Drill, a handful of must-reads are:

• NWF: Oil Assault on America
• View To A Kill: BP Delays “Static Kill” Operation, Talks about Scaling Back Cleanup
• Sandra Bullock and Other Helpful Celebs got Snowed by Big-Oil Front Group (UPDATED)
• Breaking: New Mini-Gusher Caused by Tug Boat
• Remember BP’s $20 Billion Compensation Fund? The Company has Failed To Fund It.
• Video: BP Oil Spill Poisoning People?

Feelgood Style

If you need to relax and clear your mind a bit after reading all those Fail Drill stories, here is a good one from Delia Montgomery on Feelgood Style: “Yoga and Aroma”

Crafting a Green World

And, you can find at least a few more good and uplifting reads over on Crafting a Green World. These are some of my favorites:

• A Review of Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It by Billee Sharp
• EcoPaper Sketchbooks and Craft Paper
• Fab Fabrics: Eco-Friendly Denim

10 of the latest green news stories from around the web (that we didn’t cover in more depth earlier in the week).

Have more to add, stick them in the comments below!

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10 of the latest green news stories from around the web (that we didn’t cover in more depth earlier in the week).

Have more to add, stick them in the comments below!

Climate Change Science

The 00′s was the hottest decade on record, the NOAA just reported. Bad news, but nothing new for those actually following the real science on climate change and not just nonsensical climategate hysteria.

Math wiz and environmental science expert Inez Fung is aiming to delve deeper into the world’s carbon sinks than anyone has ever done. Good luck, Inez.

Climate Change Action

Terreform announced winners of its One Prize competition. “The competition called for technical, urbanistic, and architectural strategies not simply for the food production required to feed the cities and suburbs, but the possibilities of diet, agriculture, and retrofitted facilities that could achieve that level within the constraints of the local climate and conditions.” Two great projects won $5000 (check them out on the One Prize webpage).

The Mayor of London launched a big “cycle hire scheme” the other day, sponsored by Barclays Bank.

Though the U.S. Senate has fallen through on a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill, several states and Candian jurisdictions are steaming ahead.  ”The Partner jurisdictions of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) today released a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), stimulate development of clean-energy technologies, create green jobs, increase energy security and independence, and protect public health,” the Western Climate Initiative recently announced. What are the partner jurisdictions? California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico in the US; and British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec in Canada.

The Oceans are In Trouble

The world has seen a 40% decline in the ocean’s phytoplankton in the last 100 or so years, and scientists conclude it is likely due to global warming.

Massive coral bleaching closed several world-renowned dive sites in Malaysia in this week, and as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) puts it, this is no short-term issue. “Mass coral bleaching caused by global warming is threatening the health of the Coral Triangle, a vast marine region that is home to 76% of all known corals in the world.“

A Little Help for the Oceans (& Renewable Energy)

The House of Representatives passed an Oil Response Bill this week. The bill “toughens offshore drilling safety rules and lifts caps on oil industry liability for spills, overcoming claims by Republicans and some Democrats that the sweeping bill would slow domestic energy production.” The final vote was 209-193, with a disgraceful 39 Democrats opposing it and two courageous Republicans supporting it.

And on the activist front, WWF Solar, a solar-powered boat owned by the World Wildlife Fund, has started going around the Mediterranean advocating for renewable energy and conservation of marine ecosystems. It will do so every summer for the next three years.

A Downer

In a heated battle over a Russian forest that is being (illegally?) cut down, Evgenia Chirikova, a 33-year-old engineer and mother of two has been unjustly imprisoned for her activist efforts to protect the forest and her fellow activists this week.

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Image Credits: hurleygurley via flickr; NOAA

India’s largest state, Rajasthan, has become the latest place to completely ban plastic bags.

The ban has been put in place due to “both the short-term and long-term environmental hazards” of plastic bags.

Some of the main reasons for the ban were that plastic bags blocking sewer lines, drainage systems and water distribution pipelines were increasing malaria and dengue fever in Rajasthan.

Additionally, partly as a result of plastic bags blocking drains in Mumbai in 2005, over 1000 people died in massive monsoon flooding there. The government would not like to see that happen again.

One more reason for the ban is that cows, which are sacred in India, often asphyxiate from trying to eat the bags.

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