Word: bags
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...pantheon of lost causes, defending the plastic grocery bag would seem to be right up there with supporting smoking on planes or the murder of puppies. The ubiquitous thin white bag has moved squarely beyond eyesore into the realm of public nuisance, a symbol of waste and excess and the incremental destruction of nature. But where there's an industry at risk, there's an attorney, and the plastic bag's advocate in chief is Stephen L. Joseph, head of the quixotically titled Save the Plastic Bag campaign...
...Recently, Joseph and his cause have taken a few hits. Last Tuesday, Los Angeles became the most recent American city to take a stand against the bag, when its city council voted unanimously to ban plastic in all supermarkets and retail stores by 2010 if a statewide fee on the bags has not been put in place by then. (It's estimated that Los Angeles uses 2 billion plastic bags a year, only 5% of which are recycled.) Joseph had filed suit against Los Angeles County on the grounds that it did not prepare an Environmental Impact Report...
...uphill battle trying to improve the image of a throwaway item that has been tied to everything from global warming to dependence on oil and the death of marine life. Especially in California. Particularly in ultra-liberal Marin County. It took him more than a year after the bag manufacturers came calling to take on the cause. "It's very challenging to counter the myths and misinformation," he says from his Tiburon, Calif., law offices. "I'm a one-man show...
...lubricant that helps spin the wheels of government, but most politicians are discreet about how liberally the grease gets spread around. That's why it was so shocking when three of India's opposition-party lawmakers recently took the floor of India's Parliament, unzipped a black leather bag and, with TV cameras rolling, hauled out stacks of 1,000-rupee notes. The money, they claimed, represented bribes they had been offered by allies of the country's ruling Congress Party to withhold their ballots in a crucial July 22 vote of confidence. While allegations of "suitcase politics" are nothing...
...still have the "meeting of continents" Tote Bag, the flyer for a "Turkish Blues Night" hosted by Istanbul, the key rings from many cities showing bridges and interlocking circles. I can remember Desmond Tutu bringing his irrepressible charm and authority to the cause of Cape Town, while flocks of bright young things tried to seduce us toward Osaka, Japan, or Paris or the "next great international city," Atlanta. One result of covering six Olympiads for this magazine was that I came to see that the real competition on display at any Olympic Games is not on the track...