Buoyed by recent successes in their quest to halt the sale of plastic grocery bags, local proponents against the selling of synthetic bags are hoping that the screening of an anti-pollution documentary will spur their elected officeholders into taking action as well.
Bag It, a film that takes on the proliferation of plastic in American society, will be shown at the Culver-Palms United Methodist Church beginning Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.
Members of Transition Culver City and supporters of a ban of the sale of plastic feel that the film could create community support for a municipal ban in Culver City.
The documentary, which won the Best of Festival award at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival in Monterey last year, details the effects of plastic bags on the environment and explores the alternatives of paper and reusable bags.
“In addition to the Culver City elected officials, we have invited local Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents Mar Vista and Del Rey, state Sens. Curren Price (D-Culver City) and Ted Lieu, and Assemblywomen Betsy Butler and Holly Mitchell (D-Culver City),” said Andy Shrader, a co-sponsor of the film. “As these areas are showing strong support toward banning plastic bags, we hope the representatives will all come add their voices to the conversation and hear first-hand what their constituents are saying.”
Councilman Andrew Weissman said he did not know that the documentary would be screened in Culver City until he was contacted by the News and was unaware that Bag It! would be shown on the same day that Mitchell is hosting an open house at her Corporate Pointe office.
“This is the first that I’ve heard of it,” the councilman told the News.
Shrader wants local and state representatives to know that neighboring cities like Santa Monica, and other communities, have taken action against plastic.
“It’s important for our state representatives to note all the different types of municipalities who are passing local bag bans and to see how vital a statewide measure will be,” said Shrader, who is a member of the Clean Seas Coalition. “Otherwise, the Grocers Association will go crazy trying to meet all the different requirements in all the different cities around the state.”
Weissman said there has been some discussion at the council level of how other cities are dealing with non-biodegradeable bags, and he believes that a regional approach is the most effective way.
“I believe that this is a regional issue, not a go-it-alone Culver City issue,” he said.
Maria Rychlick, the interim president of Westside Cities Council of Governments (COG), agrees that a broader stance would ultimately be more effective.
“To me, it makes sense to institute something on a broader, regional scale as you can to try and make it less confusing for everyone,” Rychlick said in an interview last October. “When changing consumer behavior, you can never go too quickly.”
Rychlick’s organization, to which Culver City belongs, does not advocate for any particular issues. It provides a forum that examines topics and policies of regional importance.
“I think it’s possible that COG could come up with a model ordinance that could hopefully be ratified by others, so there is less of an economic detriment on businesses,” said Weissman.
Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are also COG members.
Culver City resident Shelli Wright, who says she plans to attend the screening, would like to see as many cities adopt ordinances against selling as possible.
“I think the approach has to be multi-pronged. City and state laws are more effective if they’re supported by the goodwill sentiment of concerned citizens and businesses,” Wright said.
Neighborhood councils in Mar Vista and Del Rey have both passed resolutions to send letters of support for a ban to the Los Angeles City Council.
April De Stefano of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council said she is grateful to her local board for passing its resolution on Feb. 10. “I was very pleased to have the support of my colleagues in recognizing the need to limit the impact of single-use plastic bags on the environment and our city, she said.
“I had heard that the Mar Vista Community Council had faced some challenges, so I was pleasantly surprised and proud that the [neighborhood council] passed the motion relatively easily,” she said.
Shrader, who was instrumental in convincing Mar Vista’s council to take action on single-use bags, cited the council’s decision to challenge an environmental impact report and community standards district that the Board of Supervisors approved in 2008 as evidence that some stands are worth taking to protect their constituents. “As the Culver City Council stepped forward to protect the health of its citizens by fighting the expansion of the Inglewood Oil Field and got sued for their trouble, I respect their desire to take this one slowly,” he noted. “That said, we want the screening to educate and inspire our citizenry so that the council has the local support they need when they do bring up a measure.”
Los Angeles County banned the sale of plastic bags on Nov. 16. The supervisors approved an environmental impact report that will be in effect countywide that deals with the environmental concerns of outlawing plastic.
The resolution also requires stores in the unincorporated areas to provide paper bags at a charge of 10 cents.
Steven Joseph of Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, which does not support prohibiting the sale of synthetic bags, says municipalities are free to adopt their own ordinance if they so chose.
“They can piggyback on Los Angeles County’s EIR if they want,” said Joseph, the coalition’s legal counsel.
Shrader feels viewers of the film will be able to relate to Bag It!’s protagonist and the source of his concerns. “The reason we are screening Bag It! for the public is that it’s a fun film told through the eyes of a guy who is having a baby and simply wants to know how plastic affects his baby’s health and how it affects the planet he is bringing his baby into,” Shrader explained.
“Best of all, it gives people easy steps they can take to reduce single-use plastic in their own lives.”
Joseph calls the 74-minute documentary “infantile and totally misleading.” His San Francisco-based organization states that its purpose is to “inform decision-makers and the public about the environmental impacts of plastic bags, paper bags and reusable bags.”
Joseph, who addressed the Santa Monica City Council when it passed its ordinance on Jan. 25, sees no reason why Culver City should draft such a law.
“Because there is no environmental justification for a ban,” he responded when questioned why he would discourage Culver City from considering an ordinance banning single–use bags. “If you set aside the hype, there is no reason for banning them.”
Weissman said he senses that there is momentum building for prohibiting the sale of plastic bags throughout the region. “There seems to be,” he acknowledged. “It seems to me that this is something that is inevitable, and some communities have been more sensitive about it than others.”
Wright agrees and thinks that the documentary could serve as the catalyst to moving towards legislative action in Culver City.
“I think Bag It! is the third prong of the approach, which could push the movement farther and faster. The first is legislation, which is slow,” she asserted. “The second is community efforts,” she said. Media/entertainment is the third prong of the approach, she said, citing it as “bigger and faster.”
“The trick is making sure it’s the right message. If it’s too harsh, people tune out. If it’s too light, people miss the importance of taking action rather than just thinking about it while they’re in their seats,” Wright said, adding, “I hope Bag It! hits just the right point.”