Tuesday, June 5, 2012
BAG IT!
Directed by Susan Beraza 78 minutes, documentary
7:30 pm / St. John School of the Arts, Cruz Bay
Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he tries to make sense of our dependence on plastic bags. When Jeb discovers that he and his partner are expecting a child, his plastic odyssey becomes a truly personal one. How can they protect their baby from the health dangers associated with plastics? Jeb looks beyond single-use disposable plastics and discovers that virtually everything in modern society – from baby bottles, to sports equipment, to dental sealants, to personal care products – is either made with plastic or contains potentially harmful chemical additives used in the plastic-making process.
The average American uses about 500 plastic bags each year, for about twelve minutes each. This single-use mentality has led to the formation of a floating island of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Texas. The film explores these issues and identifies how our daily reliance on plastic threatens not only waterways and marine life, but human health, too.
Featuring interviews with scientists and experts from around the world, Bag It is a first-person documentary in the style of Michael Moore, asking how we can incorporate healthy, more environmentally friendly practices into our lives, our cultures, and our communities.
Find out more about BAG IT!, the movie here.
THIS SCREENING IS BEING CO-SPONSORED BY BOTH
THE ROTARY CLUB OF ST JOHN AND THE ECO-CLUB OF GIFFT HILL SCHOOL.
THE ROTARY CLUB will be announcing the beginning of its “Bring Your Bag” campaign to help end the use of disposable plastic bags on St. John. Rotary is seeking sponsors to donate and distribute heavy duty, reusable organic cotton, made in the USA shopping bags around the island. Each bag will have sponsors logos printed on one side of the bag. Bags are printed in quantities of 500. Each of the 14 sponsors who donate $300 to Rotary will receive 36 bags to distribute as they like. Rotary is also posting “Bring Your Bag” signs in store parking lots and entrance doors to remind people to bring their reusable shopping bags with them. For additional information or to sign up as a sponsor contact Doug White 340 690 0217.
THE ECO-CLUB OF GIFFT HILL SCHOOL not only showed the film for the entire student body but created a skit to raise awareness to the problem in the VI and were invited to the senate to support legislation to ban single use plastic bags throughout the territory. If you would like to sign the petition to be delivered to the senate and governor in support of banning plastic bags you can do so at the below link.
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/338/229/699/ban-plastic-bags-in-the-us-virgin-islands/
PLEASE HELP US BAN SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS FROM THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS and preserve our spectacular natural resources and unique wildlife for generations to come!