GRAPHICS STUDENT BAGS ON SHOPPERS' WASTE DESIGNER OFFERS CLOTH SACKS TO ECO-CONSCIOUS.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS 

Staff Writer

VALENCIA -- If you see him toiling away by the sewing machine, all this German-born graphic design student asks is that you stop by and chat.

His message: Neither paper nor plastic.

To celebrate Earth Day, Roman Jaster will be handing out 40 handmade sacks today to shoppers at Ralphs grocery in Valencia's Granary Square.

Jaster, a graphic design student at nearby California Institute of the Arts, said this living art project is his personal crusade against bag waste.

"This is a gesture, a provocation for thought," Jaster said.

"Most conservation efforts go back to the same question, paper or plastic, but they are just confusing the issue with a choice when the real answer is: neither."

His idea is to give a small group of people "sexy bags" that they'll look forward to using for shopping instead of disposable ones. By taking the bags, the shoppers must agree to use them for at least six months.

"This is an ecological intervention that forces people to stop and consider what they are doing to the environment," Jaster said.

Every year, Americans consume more than 100 billion disposable shopping bags -- that is 1 million bags a minute. While paper bags traditionally have been looked at as the more eco-friendly option -- they are biodegradable and can be recycled, they are made from trees and once used, break down in landfills. Plastic bags are made with petroleum products and end up filling drains, or worse, washing up on ocean shores.

Legislators across the country have been struggling to find answers to the issue. Recently, San Francisco became the first major U.S city to ban oil-based plastic bags, requiring shoppers to use paper, biodegradable or canvas bags instead.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also is considering a similar ban, an effort to deal with the 6 billion plastic grocery bags used in the county each year.

"Consumers tend to think of plastic bags as being free, but they are really costly for the environment," said Bryan Early, a policy associate for the environmental group Californians Against Waste.

Early, who focuses on plastic waste, said AB 2449, passed in 2006, will go in effect July 1, forcing all major grocery stores to brand their plastic bags with the message, "Please reuse me."

Stores will also be bound to have reusable bags for sale.

"The good thing about this legislation is that it's taking this first step and really bringing to mind the idea of reusing bags," Early said.

"Hopefully, in the climate we are in of environmental awareness people, realize that these little things we can do really add up to make a difference."

Gail Swanlund, a CalArts faculty member and adviser to Jaster on his project, said graphic design artists have really begun to be more aware of their powers to create change.

"Graphic design is a really powerful tool," Swanlund said. "It's very engaging on a personal level."

A year and a half ago, Jaster decided he wanted to combine his design skills with his desire for social change by placing bright yellow, blue and green "reuse" graphics on paper bags that he handed out at his local Ralphs market.

Jaster's efforts got him recognition in the art world, and got his work displayed in several art galleries. But he said as time went on, he felt he needed to do more.

"I began to wonder what I really achieved. I wanted to prevent the project from becoming a one-liner."

This new tote bag project will bring Jaster back to his regular market.

Growing up in communist East Germany until the Berlin Wall crumbled when he was 11, Jaster said his upbringing was definitely different than most Americans his age.

"I was not deprived, but it was an environment where you made the most of every little thing you had," Jaster said.

Jaster remembers how amazed he was with the wealth in America when he came here as an exchange student at 16.

Grocery bags in particular were always interesting to him because back home, both before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the sacks were washed and rinsed after every use.

In most European countries, taxes on disposable bags are already levied.

"That definitely makes people bring their own bag," Jaster said with a smirk.

As he prepped himself days before the bag event, Jaster admitted he was nervous, but said he'd be happy if just a few were moved by his message.

"I am not trying to persuade anyone to change the law. I just want to talk to shoppers directly and let them know they have a lot of power to opt out of a crazy, wasteful habit."

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) CalArts graphics design student Roman Jaster works on reusable grocery bags he has designed and will distribute today, on Earth Day.

(2) To celebrate Earth Day today, graphics student Roman Jaster will be handing out 40 handmade sacks to shoppers at Ralphs market in Valencia's Granary Square.

David Crane/Staff Photographer