The demise of single-use plastic bags began at their start, shortly after being invented in the 1950s. The public's disdain for things "plastic" -- especially bags -- is due to shameful and short-term industry "leadership" without care or concern for any long-term and science-based support. This slideshow was delivered in 1998 as a warning to the Plastic Bag Association at its Annual Meeting, when that group was being merged into the Society of the Plastics Industry. The warning was ignored. Today's news tells the results. Written and presented by George Makrauer, president of Comad Group, www.comad.com.

14. What’s This?

15. - 1937 - Log Mountain For press story on paper, which the average American consumed more of than any other substance except water and milk.

16. Obligatory Part of Any Presentation on Plastics ComAd Management Group, Inc. www.comad.com 1967

17. - 1971 - SPI’s Public Affairs Council began (defensively) answering environmental questions. ComAd Management Group, Inc. www.comad.com

18. - 1972 - New York City put 2¢ per bag tax on plastic shoe bags.

19. FPA (then National Flexible Packaging Association) lobbied to remove tax.

20. - 1973 - Plastic “Refuse” begins to mount. Recycling it is difficult.

21. - April 1979 - USI News “Plastics under Attack - are the accusations justified?” Audience… preaching to choir...

22. - 1982 - Plastic bags really enter the grocery stores.

24. “ Paper is better for the environment, because it comes from a Higher Level.”

25. Environmental Hypocrisy

26. - 1981 or ‘82 - FPA Plastic Grocery Sack Council Formed to Grow the Grocery Sack Market

27. - Members - Bag Makers; Resin, Ink, and Machinery Suppliers.

29. Grew Market Share From 4% to 50%

31. - 1983 - General Federation of Women’s Clubs began national program. Jeanne Bakelar toured U.S. All expenses paid by API.

32. Battle of the Check-Out Clerk Packaging Pins

35. The “Crisis” of ‘87

36. Root cause of the garbage “crisis”.

37. American Paper Institute Picks New Director of Public Information

38. Behind the scenes… the paper association’s CEO.

39. Unmasked: API’s CEO and chief strategist Red Cavaney

40. API test markets Public Relations messages to plan plastics bashing program.

41. API tested believability of their PR messages on reliable focus group families.

42. More GFWC Stuff. Margaret Englund toured the U.S. All expenses were paid by API.

43. API created the “Pro-Environment Packaging Council” (PEPCO). PEPCO ran TV ads with dancing paper grocery bags and heavily promoted biodegradability.

44. PEPCO sent smiling representatives to PBA’s semi-annual meeting to deny any relationship with API and denied bashing plastic bags. PEPCO representatives were soundly booed.

45. PBA’s Technical Committee solved the degradability problem with their development of the Polytron.

46. Plastics Industry finally reacted. It retreated to the trenches of landfills and spent its resources promoting recycling and bashing degradables.

47. CSWS promoted plastic recycling using photos of paper bags.

48. Glass and Metal Industries loved and added to Plastic’s Image Problems. Full-Page WSJ Ad.

49. Politicians Found An Issue

50. Robert Kennedy John McKernan, Jr. CEO Union Carbide Governor of Maine

51. January 1, 1990 Maine Banned Plastic Bags at Retail Checkout.

53. June 10, 1991 Maine Retailers Can Use Plastic Bags Again.

57. Suffolk County Political Conspiracy

61. After an EDF Threat, McDonald’s Dropped Bomb on Plastics Industry.

62. November 2, 1990

65. PBA commissioned study of plastic bags’ contributions to Global Warming and Ozone Depletion. PBA found contamination!!!

66. Real threat to the environment was uncontrolled spewing of hot air from Barry Commoner of Greenpeace.

67. Published new book used in college-level environmental studies and “science” curricula.

68. Commoner’s wistful vision.

69. Commoner’s belief in the root cause of pollution.

70. Commoner’s covert agent...

71. At Washington press conference, EDF and Greenpeace called a national boycott against plastic bags and the plastics industry.

74. Clean-Production Bag Making In Action on Long Island. High Density Bag Plant 3rd-shift emissions. Low Density Bag Plant 3rd-shift emissions.

75. PBA’s “Is plastic okay?” check-out program. First-selected spokesperson.

76. Franklin Associates’ Life Cycle Analysis of Plastic Bags Had Some Bugs.

77. PBA “Stacks of Bags”. A picture says a thousand words.

81. Elementary Education Program 1998 January through June results Plastic Bag Association

82. Middle-School Program Year-to-date results Plastic Bag Association

83. The White House Took Notice: Bill and Hillary personally took PBA’s education program to heart and to children.

84. PBA’s second picture says two thousand words.

86. Unmasked Again in 1995: The American Plastics Council’s New CEO, Red Cavaney

87. July 14, 1997 - Time Magazine

104. "I greatly admire the work of this organization. No group has had a larger impact on the thinking Americans bring to the environment; on the way we, as a nation, converse about the problems that beset the environment." -- Vice President Al Gore, September 23, 1993

105. “ The Earth Communications Office (ECO) is a non-profit environmental organization whose goal is to use the power of communications to help improve the global environment. ECO Public Service Announcements in theaters have been seen by over one hundred million people in 20,000 of the 24,000 movie theaters in the United States. Theater owners and managers have submitted astounding reports of their audiences breaking into cheers and applause at the end of our brief PSA's. ”

106. Germany’s Green leader Joschka Fischer (left) and Socialist Democrat leader Gerhard Schröder formed a coalition, and Fischer became Germany’s first Green government minister. “ Germany’s Red & Green Government”

107. What influence will that impact have on plastic bags made in the US? The Green influence in Germany will increasingly spread across the European Economic Community, and it will influence environmental pressures in the U.S. ISO-14000 will institutionalize pressures.

111. Students Decorate Bags

112. Decorated Bags Brought to Store.

113. And delivered to check-out counters.

114. Students fly kites made out of decorated paper bags.

115. One school “had” to use plastic bags to deliver paper bags during rain.

116. Examples of art-deco paper bags.

117. “ Our local grocery store does not use paper bags. They use plastic bags. So we are putting messages in the bags. So that we don't waste good paper, we are putting messages on recycled paper.”

118. The Earth Day Groceries Project: Facts and Figures

124. “ Paper or Plastic?”

125. If it had only been that simple……

127. What’s next?

128. Now - time to eat and enjoy dessert served by PBA’s Jim Funderburk.

129. www.COMAD.com Thank you. . .