Bag It, the Anti-bag film, to Close Film Festival

It’s been a whole five months since the town of Chestertown passed its anti-plastic bag ordinance (no. 01-2011), and although it won’t be officially enforced until 1 January 2012, local businesses have been readying themselves for the sea change by making available reusable tote bags.

For some businesses, like Chestertown Natural Foods, the passing of the ordinance was viewed as a necessary step towards taking a larger community initiative to protect the environment, let alone the scenic views up and down 213.

Tina, an employee of the popular health store, hopes to see a decrease in the amount of plastic bags littering the highway on her way to work from Kennedyville. As you might guess, green transitions are no brainers for health food stores and their patrons.

“Most of our customers bring their own bags in, they’ve been shopping that way long before the town stepped in,” said Tina, “But that isn’t the norm around town.”

Indeed, the new ordinance, which met with a failed effort to repeal via referendum in late May, has enjoyed no shortage of general grumbling. For businesses like JBK Hardware, however, the reason hasn’t so much been ideological as economic.

According to one spokesperson, who requested anonymity, the hardware store made the more expensive transition to bio-degradable corn starch bags only to find that the town was only accepting the use of recyclable paper bags, or reusable tote bags.

“It’s going to be quite a bit more for us to switch to paper,” said the spokesperson for JBK, “But we have discussed giving customers incentives to bring their own bags.”

And then, there are the big supermarkets, which by default are responsible for the majority of the plastic trash blowing around.

Fresh and Green, which supplanted the Superfresh some months ago, is making the effort, according to one customer service employee, to encourage people to buy tote bags at a low cost, hoping to wean people off the plastic by January.

Unfortunately, no comment could be obtained within deadline from the Chestertown Acme, which sent this writer on a telephonic wild goose chase up the bureaucratic ladder to Acme’s corporate headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

In response to the question of how the local Acme was preparing for Chestertown’s post plastic age, the media relations specialist I was put in contact with informed me that he had a deadline to meet, and couldn’t comment further. His name is Ryan Noyes, and he can be reached at this number; 610-889-4000. Ex. 4006.

Meanwhile, with the weekend of the Chesapeake Film Festival only three days away, it seems appropriate to mention that one of the films featured this year, Bag It, dovetails nicely into Chestertown’s greater plastic bag discussion.

Directed by Suzan Bereza, the film documents the successful banning of plastic bags in Telluride, Colorado, while acting as a general meditation on the implications of modern waste management practices. The film’s narrator, an amicably polar-fleeced George Costanza look alike is quick to inform us, “I’m not what you’d consider a tree-hugger”.

Rather, “George” (you’ll have to watch the film to find out his real name) frames his a plastic bag blues as an exponent of his desire to merely “do the right thing”, to be a responsible citizen of his town, of the world.

“I mean, we all have a lot of bags right?” narrates “George” a chippy soundtrack of la la las bubbling underneath, images of bags being shoved into closets and under suburban sinks streaming by. Then in a sudden contrast, a tropical beach strewn with junk swims into view, bulldozers lumbering like giant mutant sandcrabs and discolored seabirds dominating the scene.
“Lets face it,” says “George” over the ugly montage, “There’s a dirty little secret here; even if we won’t admit it, just because plastic is disposable, doesn’t mean it goes away, after all, where is away? There is no away.”

Bag It is appropriate for all ages and will be showing as the Closing Film for CFF on Sunday, 9/25 at Avalon Theatre • 5:00pm  with a panel discussion to follow. For more information please click here.