1. Common Sense City-Level Solutions to Waste, Pollution, and Litter
By: Max Ciolino
President, No Waste NOLA

2. No Waste NOLA
LOGO

3. What is Waste?
an act or instance of using or expending something carelessly or unnecessarily
Examples:
Wood for a fire - not waste
Plastic Bags - waste!
Asking the audience what waste is.

4. Types of Waste
Resources
Time
Money

5. No Waste NOLA Initiatives
Disposable Bag Reduction
Citywide Composting

6. Disposable Bag Waste
Let’s take a look at the disposable bag waste that is regularly produced by households all over this city.

7. Plastic Bags as Waste? Why are plastic bags waste?
Viable alternatives: cloth bags, baskets, your arms!
Wood for a fire has no viable alternative
Petroleum
Non-renewable, extremely valuable resource used to make one-time use, throwaway bags
Money
BEFORE FIRST CLICK: Asking the audience what waste is.

8. Plastic Bags as Waste? from European Union Environmental Commission:
“[P]lastic bags are a symbol of our throw-away society and unsustainable lifestyles…That is why the Commission proposal calls on Member States to implement measures to secure an 80% reduction in lightweight bags.”

9. Plastic Bags as Waste? from Ocean Conservancy:
“Plastic bags emerged as the second most harmful item as they are often confused for food by marine mammals.”

10. This is the actual shopping for two people (Max and the lovely Paige) for 4 days of meals.

11. The four days of food could have been brought home in these 3 bags.
Leftmost bag: 3 years old; middle bag: 5 years old; rightmost bag: ??

12. Instead, it was brought home in these 15 plastic bags.
But that’s

13. All those bags laid out.
But then, wait - these bags are actually double-sided and folded on top of each other.

14. Here are all the bags cut open and taped end to end to form a 60” by 90” blanket.
A blanket, y’all.

15. Look at my new throw!
And that’s a big couch, y’all. My 6’2” friend Marv sleeps on that thing.

16. I (Max) took this photo of a tree at the intersection of Carrollton and Walmsley. This is a sight not uncommon in our cities, or nearly every other city in the US.
And sadly, I passed that same intersection about 3 mos later, and that bag was still there. In this beautiful, generations old tree, a piece of unnecessary plastic garbage sit there, despoiling it, for months.

17. Annual Production Statistics
1 trillion on Earth
328 billion in the United States
100 billion are single use shopping bags
1500 per Family
317 per Person
million in New Orleans each year
BEFORE FIRST CLICK: Asking the audience what waste is.

18. Economic Impact 1,000 Bags = 18.46 Retailer Cost Per Family = ~$30
Halted Production at Recycling Centers
Litter Management
Clogged Storm Drains
BEFORE FIRST CLICK: Asking the audience what waste is.

19. Ideal Ordinance to Curb Plastic Bag Waste
Plastic bag ban outright
Standard exceptions: meat wrapped in plastic; prepared foods; restaurants
Paper bag fee
Exceptions: enrolled in SNAP, WIC, or LaCAP

20. Efforts in New Orleans Formation of No Waste NOLA
Present to Neighborhood Organizations
Screen “Bag It”
Develop Allies through the Louisiana Reusable Bag Alliance
Work with City Council Member
Competing arguments - why should the gov tell you how to take your groceries home?
Can’t be solved person to person - needs to be incentivized by the gov. Core functions of the gov - enforce public good on a large scale.

21. Proposed Reusable Bag Ordinance
Plastic bag fee
Standard exceptions: meat wrapped in plastic; prepared foods; restaurants
Paper bag fee
Exceptions to both: enrolled in SNAP, WIC, or LaCAP
Verbal comment: this is how the proposed ordinance is currently written; we expect this to be amended pretty early on in the process.

22. Efforts and Results HB 192 by Rep. Paul Hollis
Community Development Committee Hearing in New Orleans City Hall
Ordinance Withdrawn
Verbal comment: this is how the proposed ordinance is currently written; we expect this to be amended pretty early on in the process.

23. Citywide Composting

24. What is Composting? Natural decompositional process
Turns organic matter back into nutrient rich soil
Greatly reduces reliance on landfills
Money saving alternative

26. Composting by the Numbers
1.65 Million Pounds of Municipal Waste each day
605 Million Pounds annually
Between ⅓ and ⅔ of this waste is Compostable
Up to 400 Million pounds of diverted waste per year
Add info on amount of landfilled compostable materials per person nationwide - what that means for NOLA.
We landfill ___ tons of compostable tons of material in NOLA. This could otherwise be used as a marketable byproduct for markets or farms. And there’s emerging research on using compost for wetlands restoration.

27. Ideal Citywide Composting Ordinance
Pilot program for New Orleans
Curbside composting for 1500 households in a limited geographic area
Voluntary pay-for-service for approx. 2 years
Eventual plan: investment into citywide initiative
Say at the end: there is no ordinance currently proposed.

28. Waste Reduction

29. Individuals, Market, or Policy Intervention?
Classic dispute in a situation like this: where does the solution lie?
Individual behavior
Market forces
Policy or law adoption
Why should the government tell you how to bring your groceries home?
Competing arguments - why should the gov tell you how to take your groceries home?
Can’t be solved person to person - needs to be incentivized by the gov. Core functions of the gov - enforce public good on a large scale.

30. Policy Intervention
The true cost of waste, pollution, and litter is hidden at the micro level
Harms individuals, businesses, government, and environment
Government intervention can remediate harm in a way that individuals and business cannot
Competing arguments - why should the gov tell you how to take your groceries home?
Can’t be solved person to person - needs to be incentivized by the gov. Core functions of the gov - enforce public good on a large scale.

31. Alternative Waste Reduction Policies
Recycling
Composting
Disposable Bag Initiatives
Polystyrene Bans
Plastic Drinking Straw Ban
Bottle Deposits
Electronic and Hazardous Waste Programs
Zero Waste Resolutions

32. Discussion of externalities - what happens when gov doesn’t regulate behavior. People always go for what is cheapest in the short-term, even if the long-term damage is very expensive. It’s much harder for the individual consumer to be both educated and aware of the long-term effects.

33. What’s Next?

34. Louisiana Reusable Bag Alliance (LARBA)
Politically independent
Coalition of nonprofit orgs and businesses
In favor of legislation that reduces reliance on disposable bags in Louisiana
Add LARBA logo

35. 10,000 Reusable Bag Giveaway
Gathering monetary support for a massive bag giveaway in advance of adoption of the ordinance
Targeting families and individuals who could not otherwise buy their own reusable bags

36. No Waste Louisiana
Planning to bring waste reduction efforts to cities and municipalities throughout the state
Work done through and with local affiliates and activists

37. How can you get involved?
Become a member of LARBA!
Write or call your Council Member!
Write a Letter to the Editor!
Support the bag giveaway!
Council Member contact: in support of the reusable bag ordinance
LTE: lots of misinformation and hate going around in both local publications over the ordinance. Bring sustainable sense to the conversation!