Jan 13 - Bag Bans Create Local CA Jobs for Veterans, Homeless
The president of an LA-based company hopes to see more local bag ordinances passed this year. Green Vets LA is a sewing company that has created at least 15 green jobs training veterans to make reusable bags from recycled cloth, and it expects to grow as more local ordinances are passed. Watch the interview with Green Vets LA president Jim Cragg.
In the interview Cragg anticipates the positive outlook of bag bans on local green jobs like those his company have created, and pointed out the potential for growth due to the thousands of currently unemployed garment workers looking for work in the LA area. He also explained that while 100,000 single-use plastic bags could be made in just hours using machines, the same amount of reusable bags would supply 10 people with a job for at least 10 months.
Cragg summed up the many benefits of the company’s partnership with the Veterans Administration Hospital in West LA: "Helping the homeless, helping the veterans, creating local jobs, and helping the environment." Green Vets LA is currently talking to other VA hospitals to expand this program.
See our other blog on reusable bags here. Find out more about the impacts of single-use plastic bags.
Tired of single-use plastics? Take action and help support local bag ordinances.