Pebble in the Pond's 2010 "Bag Count" Results Are In!
Pebble in the Pond staff conducted an informal 'bag count' during April and May 2010, at four retail locations in Powell River. During the total of 31 hours, we counted just over 2000 people as they emerged from these retailers doors to see how many and what kind of bags they used. The results show that while some locations use more plastic than others, single-use plastic bags are overall the most prevalent, with 72.3% of all bags used being plastic, 18.7% were reusable bags, and 12.4% of the bags were made of paper. While on the face of it, 18.7% reusable bag use may seem a bit discouraging, if we consider that just a few years ago, this number would have been close to zero, it starts to look a lot better. See the full results click here (300 kb pdf)
In late 2009, we also conducted a community survey on attitudes toward plastic bags and plastic pollution in general. The results are here: click here (3 MB pdf).
Welcome to Pebble in the
Pond, a website dedicated to sharing ideas
and inspiration on ways to reduce, and ultimately
eliminate, plastic in our everyday lives.
At one
time plastic was thought to be the answer to all human
dreams, but it is turning out to be our biggest
nightmare. We are, literally, suffocating ourselves with
and burying ourselves in this "wonder" material that
just will not go away. It is so integrated into our
daily lives that it's impossible to go shopping and
avoid it completely.
We know
this is a long journey we are on, but we have taken the
challenge. The focus of this website is to encourage
others to take that challenge too - and to share
information about alternatives and where we can find
them. Please feel free to use any of the information or
material on this website to pass on the message - and if
you have information that would be useful or good news
stories that are inspiring for us to add, EMAIL US or join
our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. PIP's 2010 Membership Drive is active and we have Paypal to make it even easier! (Click Here!).
Harwood Island, off the coast of Powell River, is known for pristine sandy beaches, fascinating geology, and lively marine gardens. Reports of an ugly mess washing up on its shores forced the Sliammon First Nation into action to clean-up the island that is part of their reserve. PIP was part of an initial clean-up on March 18 and 19, 2010. Watch the A-Channel video report, and see more pictures here.See all our footage, along with our NEW 3-part 'Green' Busters animated video series on our YouTube Channel
