I just received the press release below from a man in San Angelo who plans to "be lowered by crane into BIGBAG1, the world’s largest reusable canvas shopping bag, at noon on Saturday, September 8th, to raise awareness of the environmental challenges that plastic shopping bags present". Sometimes you need a good gimmick to get attention; hopefully this works, because plastic bags do pose serious problems for our environment. The city of Austin is considering joining San Francisco in a ban of the bags.

For further information contact:
Egan Sanders
San Angelo, Texas
(325)949-0984
www.bagonaut.com

San Angelo Man Sits in World’s Largest Reusable Shopping Bag to Raise Environmental Awareness about Plastic Bags

September 8, 2007, San Angelo, TX – Can Americans live without the omnipresent plastic shopping bag?  The world’s very first Bagonaut, Egan Sanders, (www.bagonaut.com) hopes to pave the way for a new era of eco-friendly shopping via reusable shopping bags. Donned in an eco-suit made of canvas, self-proclaimed “Bagonaut” Sanders will be lowered by crane into BIGBAG1, the world’s largest reusable canvas shopping bag, at noon on Saturday, September 8th, to raise awareness of the environmental challenges that plastic shopping bags present. Bagonaut will remain sealed within BIGBAG1 for 24 hours during the “Big Bag Event”, as it is being called, which will take place at the Sam’s Club store in San Angelo, Texas. People who donate non-perishable food items to the Concho Valley Regional Food Bank at the “Big Bag Event” will receive free reusable shopping bags donated by local, national, and international businesses.

Of Local Interest: People can donate non-perishable food items and receive free reusable bags in a wide variety of styles and materials beginning Saturday, September 8 at 10am in the Sam’s Club parking lot on Sherwood Way in San Angelo. Big Bag volunteers wearing tee-shirts that say, “Got Bag?” will be on hand to collect food items being donated to the Concho Valley Regional Food Bank and to distribute bags from Saturday at 10am through Sunday until noon. Beginning at noon on Saturday Bagonaut Egan Sanders will be lowered by crane into BIGBAG1 and then give a short talk from within BIGBAG1 about plastic bags. This will be followed by several other talks during the day on environmental issues that affect the Concho Valley. At 7pm on Saturday evening a Plastic Bag Film Festival, featuring informative and humorous short films, will be screened on the front of BIGBAG1. A music concert featuring the band Jason and the Bagonauts will follow later in the evening. Food donations and bag distribution will continue until 12 noon Sunday when Bagonaut Sanders will emerge from his 24 hour sojourn in BIGBAG1.
 
Bagonaut wants to show people a way they can make a difference by shopping with reusable bags. It is one simple thing every person on Earth can do right now to conserve energy and petroleum, reduce landfills, decrease pollution, and prevent harm to wildlife.  In addition, talks on environmental issues affecting communities and what sensible things can be done to solve them will be made.  On Saturday evening a Plastic Bag Film Festival, featuring such bag classics as, “I Don't Need a Bag” and “Bag Monster Attacks San Francisco” will be screened on the front of BIGBAG1, the world’s largest reusable canvas shopping bag. Standing over 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, BIGBAG1 was constructed in San Angelo by the West Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, a sheltered facility providing employment for blind and visually impaired individuals.

Plastic bags begin their lives as natural gas or other petrochemical substances. According to Worldwatch Institute, factories around the world manufacture 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags per year.  Although many of these bags are recyclable, each year Americans return less than 1% and discard the rest. Once plastic bags are in the environment - whether in a landfill or polluting a lake - it can take several hundred years for them to decompose, and they contribute toxins to the soil and water as they do. According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year. Around 12 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic bags in the U.S. alone.

Both plastic and paper shopping bags can waste energy and natural resources, pollute the environment, and harm wildlife. Nationwide landfills already hold countless bags. According to the Wall Street Journal the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of 4 billion dollars. Each American typically uses over 300 plastic bags per year with each bag used for less than an hour. By contrast, reusable shopping bags can be used for many years, conserve resources, and are a safe way to both shop and protect the environment without excessive use of plastic or paper.

Plastic is a useful material that has created many products for society. How people use plastic bags and dispose of them is an issue that needs to be examined as increasing worldwide population and industrialization burdens the Earths ecosystems. If Bagonaut Sanders safely emerges from BIGBAG1 at noon, Sunday, September 9, he plans to continue to spread the word of eco-friendly shopping. Sanders, who resides in San Angelo, has been working with his local city government on an environmental plan to address the very visible effects of global warming, pollution, frequent droughts, high electricity rates, and recycling.

The Big Bag event has received generous support from a wide variety of local, national, and international reusable bag companies: 1 Bag at a Time, Bring Your Own Bag, ChicoBag, Coyote's Corner, Eco Bags, Eco-Logics, Envirosax, Get Hip Get Green, Globotote, Go-Again Bags, Greenkit, Green Sak, Organic Fred, The Planet Bag, Reusablecanvasbags.com, See2Sea Sourcing, Smart Sac, Texas Earth Bag, and The Abe Lincoln Story. Local sponsors include: Sam’s Club, Total Sports, West Texas Lighthouse for the Blind, A Plus Sign, Company Printing, Albertsons LLC, West Texas Broadcasting, and the San Angelo Standard Times. Special thanks go out to volunteers from the Concho Holistic Association, Keep San Angelo Beautiful, San Angelo Friends of the Environment, and Goodfellow Air Force Base.

Bagonaut.com features tips for conserving water, saving money on your electric bill, ways to effectively reduce your use of plastic bags, and much more. Bagonaut regularly travels and gives public talks on environmental issues. Updates on the ecological adventures of Bagonaut and BIGBAG1 can be found at www.bagonaut.com.


http://www.prweb.com//releases/2007/8/prweb550146.htm