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| Kicking the plastic habit
by Stacy Falk It’s just another Thursday night in Durango, just another pint or one more karaoke song before the slug home. Wrong. This is a night when a group of young adults comes together not to party, but to help make the world a better place. Among many projects on the agenda for the Durango Rotaract Club’s weekly meeting is the 2009 Colorado Association of Ski Towns (CAST) Reusable Bag Challenge. This friendly competition among member towns is designed to raise awareness of the environmental and social costs of single-use, plastic shopping bags. The winning CAST town will be the community that tallies the most uses of reusable bags on a per-capita basis from March 1 – Aug. 31. The local Rotaract, a Rotary-sponsored service club for men and women ages 18 to 30, has stepped up to be the local organizer for the event. “We are a great group of young, motivated people and are very excited about this project and working with the Durango community,” said Rotaract Club President Katie Zortman. Zortman, 28, said that without the extra effort and dedication the club has given to this project, Durango, although a member of CAST, probably would not be participating. With more than two dozen other mountain towns around the West partaking in the challenge, Durango is a late entry into the challenge and scrambling to put the pieces together, according to Zortman. On March 3, Mayor Renee Parsons, signed a resolution to demonstrate a commitment to the responsible stewardship of conserving resources and encouraging a culture of sustainability within the community through the Reusable Bag Challenge. “Although Durango should have been on board sooner, at the same time, is was a blessing in disguise by putting Rotaract Club in the limelight,” Zortman said. “It’s good that we’re getting our name out there through such a great project.” Between volunteering at Manna Soup Kitchen, reading to kids at the Liberty School, planning an international service project, helping Habitat for Humanity and much more, the Rotaract Club has been a driving force in getting as many retailers as possible to commit to tallying the use or purchase of a reusable bag at the point of sale. They are also responsible for advertising and getting each retailer a Bag Challenge card to display at checkouts to inform shoppers of the store’s participation. “I think a lot of people didn’t even know what Rotaract was, and this is good to help get their name out,” said Sherri Dugdale, Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Durango. Rotaract member, Erik Pattison, 23, has been busy presenting the challenge to store mangers as well as gathering money to help cut the costs for the club in printing informative posters. Some of the bigger local participating stores include: Durango Natural Foods, Nature’s Oasis, both City Markets, Wal-Mart, Kroeger’s, Albertson’s; and Vitamin Cottage. “I think it’s going to take about a month or so for people to catch on, but I think it’s definitely going to change people’s habits,” said Pattison. “Even if you get people to use their reusable bags once in a while, it is good, and I think that’s the main goal.” North City Market employee Connie Payton said she has already seen an increase in the use of reusable bags since the challenge began and the posters were placed in the store.Payton, who estimates that she personally packed 75 reusable bags on an average day last week, said that customers and employees alike seem excited about the challenge. “People in the check-out will run back to their cars to get their bags,” she said. As for getting tourists to use reusable bags, Telluride’s David Allen, CAST organizer and co-founder, said that he has contacted numerous hotel managers about providing their guests with free reusable bags. Local TV stations can also play a huge role by informing visitors about events such as the bag challenge. “Tourists may see what we’re doing here and take it back to their own community,” said Allen. Ester Rigsby, a spring breaker from Houston, Texas, carried her cloth bag full of snacks for the day’s activities at Durango Mountain Resort last week. She said the bag was given to her free from local restaurant Ken and Sue’s. Although Rigsby did not know about the CAST challenge, she said she has been making a habit of using reusable bags as much as possible at home by leaving a stash in her car. Because of this habit, she has begun to use them more and more while traveling. “You can buy four reusable bags for a dollar at the Targets, Wal-Mart’s and Walgreen’s in Houston,” Rigsby said. “I take them with me everywhere, always trying to help out with things like that.” The CAST Reusable Bag Challenge has grown from the success of the 2008 Telluride/ Mountain Village/ Aspen Plastic Bag Reduction Challenge that started as a voluntary community service project. Allen said an estimated 140,000 single-use shopping bags were reduced. It was then that Allen and Aspen local Nathan Ratledge made a commitment to see their vision through at a state level and CAST became an outlet to reach a range of communities. CAST has contributed $5,000 for the production of a public service announcement to air on local radio, television and previews at local theaters, said Allen. Telluride filmmaker Suzan Beraza, who helped make the PSA, will also document the challenge as a part of her upcoming documentary, “Bag It,” which she plans to bring to Durango. In addition, Alpine Bank is pitching in with a little incentive. The winning town will receive a $5,000 grant, said Allen. Safeway has also contributed toward a runner-up prize. “The big thing for me is helping create more mindfulness about the impacts on the environment,” Allen said. “The process of creating the habit of using reusable bags can be no different than turning off the water while you brush your teeth.” The world currently uses and trashes between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags a year, according to local author and freelance journalist, Erinn Morgan, in her new book Picture Yourself Going Green. Aside from being made of a petroleum-based plastic, many of these bags are used one time, only to end up clogging landfills and waterways or killing wildlife. Morgan also notes that those opting for paper over plastic aren’t exactly helping the situation. The production of paper bags emits 70 percent more global warming gasses than the production of plastic bags. All participating retailers have agreed to tally bags until Sept 1, and the Rotaract Club will periodically check the totals. As of this week, more than 22,000 plastic bags have been bypassed at local participating stores in favor or reusable ones, according to event organizers. “I think we have a good chance of winning with the commitment from the community, and we’re up to the challenge,” said Dugdale. •
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The Independent Weekly Line on Durango and Beyond
