Chester groups kick off push to nix single-use plastic bags
New push to avert plastic bags in city launched
CHESTER >> A table of shopping bags in Chester Clipper orange stood out against the fall scenery of Deshong Park Friday morning as New Integration Accommodations and the Chester Housing Authority invited the city to “Bag It Chester.” The bags were among the first run of the First City Innovation reusable shopping bags produced by NIA to combat single-use plastic bag litter and start public conversation about environmental issues in the city.
NIA – an urban immersion program developed through the housing authority by arts and civic leader Ulysses Slaughter and Penn State Brandywine Associate Professor of Psychology Pauline Thompson, Ph.D. – launched the program before
“What you’re going to see and hear about today is an example of people not sitting around and waiting for government to do things for them. This is going to be an example of people at the grassroots level of the community taking an important matter into their own hands.”
— CHA Executive Director Steven Fischer
a crowd of supporters under the Deshong Park clock tower before distributing 150 bags to businesses in the downtown district.
“What you’re going to see and hear about today is an example of people not sitting around and waiting for government to do things for them. This is going to be an example of people at the grassroots level of the community taking an important matter into their own hands,” CHA Executive Director Steven Fischer said in his introductory remarks. “Today … is about a bag. It doesn’t sound too flashy … but what we’re going to explain to you is why this bag is going to be impactful to our city,” he said. Fischer said a number of “artists, educators, activists and residents” have joined the effort to inform the public of environmental dangers.
“One (reusable) bag in one person’s hands takes hundreds of bags off our streets … and hundreds out of our rivers, which takes thousands of bags out of our oceans,” said Devon Walls, city artist and business owner. Walls’ Brothers Jazz Café and Restaurant is a sponsor of the program and has eliminated plastic bag and container use, he said.
“Eight states have banned the use of single-use plastic bags. We don’t need to wait for the state of Pennsylvania to decide to do that,” said Thompson, telling the crowd that the average American takes home 1,500 plastic bags each year.
“Plastic bags leach toxins into the environment and into our body. It contributes to diabetes – they’re endocrine disruptors. These bags start a conversation about these impacts.”
NIA and its coalition of program sponsors have produced several thousand of the First City Innovation bags, Slaughter told the Times in October. The group will distribute some free and sell others as a fundraising tool for coalition members. The front of the bag bears the Deshong Park clock tower and states “Our City, Our Health, Our Future: we got it in the bag.” The reserve of the initial run features logos of coalition members. David Carter, of YaMean Clothing & Design in the 500 block of Avenue of the States, designed the bags and produced the initial test runs. Carter said Friday during the bag distribution that they will be available at his neighboring food business Carter’s Stop & Go.
Following the launch event, a group of supporters distributed 150 of the bags to downtown businesses and passersby at the Chester Transportation Center. The distribution concluded at the DTLR Villa sneaker and sportswear store at Fifth Street and Avenue of the States, operated by music producer Jahlil Beats’ Tandem Enterprises.
“We’ll be using them in the shop … anything to support the city of Chester,” Beats said after the distribution.
Participants in the program with NIA and CHA, according to an October release, include Brothers Restaurant, Sowing Good Seeds, MJ Freed Theater, Transition Town Media, Team MAC, the Chester Education Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.