Plastic bags are a great cause for concern as they represent a major component of urban pollution, which then becomes marine pollution and kills wildlife that gets trapped in them or swallows them. As they usually end up being one-time use items that are improperly disposed of, a bill that bans the free dispensing of grocery bags in stores would significantly help reduce plastic pollution. Take action now to make sure the bill passes on June 4.

Why We Should Ditch Plastic Bags

California alone uses 19 billion plastic bags per year.  Many of these bags find their way into our oceans (less than 5% currently gets recycled), contributing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an island of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean that is measured to be at least the size of Texas.  Since the 1980s, plastic in the ocean has tripled leaving massive destruction in its place. Also, plastic bags easily damage recycling equipment and jam screens used to separate materials, and are very costly to recycle in the first place. So unless we want to see more of the same environmentally destructive trends, we must learn to be eco-responsible, and change our shopping habits while lessening our dependency on oil-based plastics.

What The Ban Would Mean

Over 40 countries in the world, including Mexico, China and France, have already banned plastic bags, and so have some cities in California, such as San Francisco, Malibu, Fairfax, and Palo Alto. But this bill, AB 1998, would be a uniform, statewide policy that would ban the use of plastic grocery bags at supermarkets, convenience stores and large retail establishments with pharmacies. The ban would not apply to bags used to carry bulk items, produce or raw meat to the checkout.  As an alternative, shoppers would either pay a minimum of a 25 cent fee per plastic bag, have limited access to recycled paper bags, purchase canvas bags from the store, or simply and preferably bring their own reusable bags. Ironically, customers are currently paying a hidden fee associated with so-called free disposable plastic bags as grocery stores currently embed a 2-5 cent per plastic bag price and embed 5-23 cents per paper bag in the cost of food. For more info on the bill, visit Heal the Bay's FAQ.

Unless the bill to ban plastic bags passes out of the California Assembly by June 4, it will die and have to be re-proposed again next year, exacerbating the existing problems of pollution and harm to wildlife.

Obviously, chemical industry lobbyists and plastic bag manufacturers whose commercial interest is to produce more and more plastic bags are opposing the bill and trying to log-jam it in the legislative process.  For the sake of our environment, we must urge our legislators to approve this bill so that we may have a cleaner world.

Take Action to Ban Plastic Bags

By taking action right now and sending an e-mail to your state assembly member to ban plastic grocery bags immediately, you can help the bill. Similar efforts by citizens have had tangible results in the past, such as the ban of Styrofoam takeout containers in some Californian cities. So your taking action will not be vain, especially if you pass this information on to your friends. Help California become  a plastic bag-free state.  Help the Golden state set a precedent for other states to follow its tracks, promoting an overall environmentally better society.

 

Supporters of the ban are, among others:

Californians Against Waste
Clean Water California
San Diego Coastkeeper
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Sierra Club California
StopWaste.Org
Healthebay.org

Updated June 4th: The California State Assembly passed the bill, it now needs to be passed by the State Senate.

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