by Katie Jewett, Stanford University

Around the country, an increasing number of cities are taking steps to confront one of the most pressing marine challenges today: the migration of single-use plastic bags from communities to the ocean, where they ultimately pollute and pose a threat to marine wildlife and environments. While San Francisco has banned and Palo Alto has partially banned single-use plastic bags, the Stanford campus still churns out these marine menaces in large quantities.

Single-use plastic bags present a huge threat to coastal and marine environments, especially wildlife. Approximately 100,000 marine mammals and sea birds die each year from the ingestion or entanglement of plastic debris. Plastic bag production is also incredibly energy-intensive. Over 100 billion petroleum-based plastic bags are used every year in the United States, which requires nearly 12 million barrels of oil to produce. The average American uses 500 plastic bags per year for an average of 12 minutes each!  Stanford could be a leader among universities by banning plastic bags and developing sustainable alternatives.

To elevate Stanford’s leadership role in developing sustainable solutions to this marine conservation challenge, a small group of locally minded students came together under the auspices of Stanford’s chapter of The Coastal Society to establish the Stanford Bag Project. Their vision is to make Stanford a plastic bag free campus by providing reusable totes while building awareness and enthusiasm for sustainability in the Stanford community.

The Coastal Society, a student group that fosters an interdisciplinary understanding of ocean and coastal resources, began a campus-wide dialogue on the negative impacts of plastic bags on the marine environment when they partnered with the student group FLiCKS to screen “Bag It: Is Your Life Too Plastic?” in January. A discussion panel following the film featured speakers from the Marine Mammal Center, Stanford’s Office of Sustainability, Save Our Shores and the Stanford University Bookstore. The lively Q&A period touched on Stanford’s waste reduction and diversion programs and the opportunities available to educate our community on the issues surrounding single-use plastic. The event’s success sparked excitement among attendees and The Coastal Society to consider grassroots efforts to affect real change in the Stanford community.

Riding this momentum, The Coastal Society applied for and received an Executive Grant from the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) to begin their efforts. The Stanford Bag Project has designed reusable bags emblazoned with logos from Stanford’s student groups.  The Stanford Bag Project expects that the resale of these bags will raise money for campus groups and increase their name recognition. The bags are available for purchase from student groups and the Stanford Bag Project.

The second component to the Stanford Bag Project is a “Give a Bag, Get a Bag” lending program. Bags donated by Stanford community members will be provided free for others to take. Collection “trees” or bins will be set up at the Stanford Bookstore, Stanford Student Store, Y2E2, dorms, row houses and other locations around campus for students and faculty to borrow bags.

Supported by the Center for Ocean Solutions, the Stanford Bag Project hopes to target nearly one-third of the undergraduate population with reusable tote alternatives to plastic bags in the coming months. With ten student groups already involved, the Stanford Bag Project believes it can foster enough support to be the first university in the country to eliminate the worst marine menace of our time: the plastic bag!

Interested in donating your extra reusable bags? Let other members of the Stanford community use them! Kindly donate by placing your extra totes in any Stanford Bag Project collection bin set up at Y2E2, Gilbert and Herrin.

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Would you like to sponsor our efforts and include your organization’s logo on our bags? Are you curious to know more about the Stanford Bag Project?

Then please get in touch with us! You can find us at: stanfordbagproject@gmail.com

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