A note about climate change

Today I attended a workshop on climate change at Aquarium of the Pacific. It’s a pretty serious topic with consequences for everyone and everything on the planet. But instead of doom and gloom, the message today was about a simple change in terminology.

Apparently a lot of people don’t really understand climate change. Some people think it has to do with the ozone layer and others think it only involves the polar ice caps. It seems that many people are tripped up by the terms greenhouse gas and greenhouse effect. (Dear Al Gore, there are a lot of folks out there who have never seen a greenhouse, let alone understand how one works.) So now the greenhouse effect is out, and the heat-trapping blanket is in.

Here’s how it works:

Human activity (driving, running A/C, burning coal) releases carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide builds in the atmosphere, forming a blanket.

Carbon dioxide blanket traps heat, preventing its release from Earth.

Temperatures rise.

Bad things happen, such as polar ice caps melt and sea levels rise.

Everyone can understand how a heat-trapping blanket works. I like it. Well, I like the wordage, not the heat-trapping blanket.

My beef with awards shows

There’s nothing like knowing that there’s an awards show (such as the Emmys) taking place a few miles up the road but not being able to watch it on live TV. The Emmys, Grammys and Oscars all take place in L.A. The ceremonies usually kick off at 5 p.m. so they will air live at 8 p.m. on the East Coast. The shows air in L.A. at 8 p.m.,

When the stage is empty and everything is being discussed all over the Internet. I usually know who the winners and losers are before the show even airs, but of course I can’t see anything unfold as it actually happens.

All of the local news crews are live on the Red Carpet before awards shows. Today, KTLA had live coverage from 3 to 5 p.m., when the celebrities were arriving for the Emmys. E! was also on hand for the arrivals, but started its Red Carpet program for the West Coast at 6 p.m. Had E! aired the arrivals live, I probably would have watched that channel instead.

Right now, when I should be enjoying the second hour of the Emmy telecast, I am looking at Variety’s Twitter feed so I can see the winners in real time. Though I am grateful to have access to the information, I think it is ridiculous that I have to wait another hour to see the telecast.

Now I know why so many people out here have Dish TV. They want the East Coast feed so they can see live programs as they happen! I don’t know what people do if they watch live programs such as “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars.”

Most of the TV shows and movies that win awards are created, written, filmed and edited in Hollywood. The ceremonies happen here for a reason and the celebrities come to L.A. to be part of it all. Fans on the West Coast deserve to see awards shows live.

Left holding the bag

Yesterday, I visited a Whole Foods Market. Once I got over my shock from the outrageously high prices, I noticed that there wasn’t a plastic bag in sight. There were two options at checkout: paper or canvas. Plastic bags are becoming more and more rare at stores, especially in Southern California. Up north, I don’t think you’d see them at all.

Plastic bags started showing up at grocery stores in the late 1980s. They’re cheap to produce and are the bag of choice at grocery and convenience stores. These bags are everywhere, probably even crammed into one of your kitchen drawers. I’ve used them to line waste cans, carry my lunch and even stuff my witch hat at Halloween.

But the bags also clog storm drains, litter roadways and float in the ocean. They are deadly snacks for sea turtles and sea lions who mistake the floating bags for jellyfish, a favorite food.

In 2007, San Francisco passed the nation’s first plastic bag ban. City officials there estimate that the ban saves 5 million bags each month. Los Angeles followed suit last year and will ban plastic bags from stores as of July 1, 2010. (If the state of California imposes at 25-cent fee for the bags, L.A. would drop its ban.) Malibu and Manhattan Beach recently passed ordinances banning the bags at all retailers.

L.A. officials estimate that more than 2 billion plastic bags are used in the city each year. In California, about 5 percent of plastic bags and 21 percent of paper bags are recycled, according to the Huffington Post. Organizers are working on a statewide plastic bag ban to reduce litter on beaches and in the ocean.

I’ve seen a lot of bags in places where they should not be. While stopped at a traffic light along Pacific Coast Highway, I saw a seagull trapped by a plastic bag. The bird had pierced the bag with its beak and was unable to remove it. The bag was large enough that the bird couldn’t see or fly. It hopped around madly, trying to free itself. I decided right then and there that I would never use plastic bags again. Any bags that do show up at my home are recycled at the grocery store. I won’t throw them away because they would just wind up in a landfill.

I’ve been using reusable bags for about a year. I have a couple for Target and four for Ralph’s, our grocery store. Ralph’s gives extra reward points for customers who bring their own bags, which cost 99 cents apiece. Target offers no such incentives, but the stores occasionally give away the bags.

I see people using reusable bags almost everywhere I shop. I hope this means that I won’t see any more birds along the road wrestling with plastic bags.

Caption: I keep reusable bags like these in my trunk so I’m always ready to shop.