Paper Bags

Just when plastic bags seemed to have won the contest for customer preference against their chief competitor, paper, a movement has sprung up in Maryland and around the country to disqualify the petroleum-based plastics on environmental grounds. Indeed, those ubiquitous flimsy shopping sacks are a scourge on the landscape, particularly in waterfront communities such as Annapolis and Baltimore, where officials are considering banning plastic bags largely because of the impact on waterfowl and marine life.

One advantage of a multi-cultural approach to the arts is that it shows people of other than the dominant culture that they, too, have a rich heritage and a vital place in the world. But another, perhaps more important, advantage is that it shows us all our common humanity. That message shines through at the University of Maryland Baltimore County's current exhibit, "View from Baltimore to Washington."Curator Osvaldo Mesa has chosen installations as the medium of this excellent edition of UMBC's annual regional exhibit.

Bag it, please, is the message for county residents who live along the Poplar Trail, when they prepare cans, bottles and plastic for their once a week recycling collection.The Poplar Trail includes all of Howard County west of Route 29, with the exception of most Columbia neighborhoods.Howard County is asking that the 12,000 households along the Poplar Trail join the county-wide phase-in of recyclable cans, bottles and plastics in clear plastic bags instead of placing materials loose in blue plastic bins.

So, the second half if what goes up to be an abbreviated season is under way, and it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff, the rubber from the road, the ... well, you get the drift. Which teams have placed themselves in good shape for the post-season? Which squads have been disappointments? "Winners and Losers" scans the landscape.TEAM .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .COMMENT .. ... .. .. .Atlanta.. .. .LOSERS. .. .. Free agency and three years of postseasonBraves .. .. .. .. .. .. .. disappointments may break up the old gangNew York .. ... .. .. .. .. Riding high now, but how long beforeYankees .. .. .. .. .. .. . George wigs out and fires everybody,.

Baltimore will order thousands more recycling bins and will make them available in three weeks, officials in Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration said yesterday. Thousands of people stood in line for hours over the weekend to buy the recycling bins, which can be used for the city's new single-stream recycling program. The city quickly ran out of its 10,000-bin supply. "This was actually a good thing," Dixon said yesterday. "It was a problem that was a good problem. I know some people were frustrated about the long lines, but what I heard is that because we're going to single-stream recycling, people have now decided to recycle."

Antietam illuminationAntietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg will be aglow with 23,110 luminaires - candles in paper bags - Saturday evening, each candle honoring a killed, wounded or lost-in-action Civil War soldier. After the candles are lighted by 976 volunteers, visitors can drive along the 4.5-mile route of the illuminated memorial. The drive takes approximately one hour, but be prepared to wait - according to the organizers, each year there's a long lineup.jTC Hours for the 10th annual illumination are 6 p.m. to midnight.

Sure, you could hoard your Thanksgiving leftovers and just eat them yourself over the next couple of weeks. But is that really in the spirit of the season? Mr. Flip says you need to share them. Here's his idea: Take those leftovers, put them in paper bags - Mr. Flip has plenty you could use - and give them to some people who could truly benefit from turkey, stuffing or sweet potatoes. Of course, Mr. Flip has suggestions: * Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. Yes, they are lovely women, but so skinny.

 In a setback for environmentalists, a House committee killed a bill Saturday that would have required counties to impose a fee on disposable plastic and paper bags given out by stores to carry merchandise. The Economic Matters Committee voted 14-9 to disapprove the measure, sponsored by Del. Mary Washington, a Baltimore Democrat. The bill had earlier been passed by the Environmental Affairs Committee but required the approval of both panels. The legislation would have placed a 5-cent fee on bags - with exceptions for such items as carry-out food and dry-cleaning - and would have let the stores retain one cent of the fee to compensate for administrative costs.

Howard County hopes to save about $45,000 in the next seven weeks by recycling 2 million pounds of leaves.Although the "pilot recycling program" targets 6,000 homes in four neighborhoods scattered throughout the county, anyone can participate.Residents can bag and bring their leaves to a recycling truck that will travel to nine locations in the county every week between now and Dec. 22.Leaf pickup for people in the targeted areas will start 7 a.m. on four consecutive Saturdays beginning Nov. 10.Prior to the pilot recycling program here, most county residents got rid of their leaves by bundling them as trash.

Baltimore moved a step closer to becoming one of the first cities in the nation to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and retail chains after the proposal skidded through a critical City Council committee vote yesterday. Intended to keep the hard-to-degrade sacks from winding up in waterways or caught on tree branches, the proposal would require large stores to bag groceries in paper or reusable bags only. San Francisco became the first city in the country to enact a partial ban on certain types of plastic bags last year.