On May 16th 2007, at the Fairfax Farmers Market, Sustainable Fairfax collaborated with The Inconvenient Group in an effort to eliminate plastic bags at the market. The two groups joined efforts to hand sew 140 reusable cloth bags that they handed out for free to people shopping at the market. Paints were available for kids and adults to decorate the bags along with a demonstration on how to avoid using plastic bags at the market and in their daily lives. The Inconvenient group purchased bio-bags made of non-GMO corn to be used by all the farmers, reducing 1200 plastic bags in one evening.

The event was a kick off for our promotion of Green Wednesday. We celebrated the notion that every day is Earth Day by providing local residents with tips on ways they can reduce their environmental footprint throughout the year.

The motivation for the reusable bag project came from research shared by Green Sangha that shows that plastic has become a monumental source of litter with 86% of ocean debris being plastic. Plastic is endangering wildlife and some studies show it could take up to 1,500 years to break down in a landfill. The EPA declared it a reproductive toxin in California Prop 65.

The Marin farmer’s market is currently working on providing non-plastic bags for all markets. Sustainable Fairfax and The Inconvenient Group are encouraging Marin County to pass an ordinance similar to San Francisco banning plastic bags at all Marin grocery stores. Town of Fairfax is working on a townwide plastic bag ban.