Banning the Bag: California Legislators Pass a State-wide Ban on Plastic Bags
On Friday August 29, 2014 the California Senate passed legislation that would result in a statewide ban of plastic bags in grocery stores and large convenience stores. The goal of this legislation is to reduce waste and improve the marine environment of California beaches.
The bill passed on a 22-15 vote and now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. The governor has until September 30th to sign the bill into law. Because the governor is up for re-election year, it will be interesting to see how he responds to this bill.
If passed, the bill would ban the use of single use plastic bags from supermarkets, pharmacies, and convenience stores starting on July 1, 2015 and will expand to liquor stores on July 1, 2016. The bill also allows supermarkets to charge up to ten cents for paper bags to take into account higher overhead costs. Additionally, two million dollars worth of grant money will be made available to plastic bag manufacturers. These grants will be allocated to help with the transition of manufacturing facilities from plastic bag to reusable bag production.
Currently, the state group, Environment California, reports 123,000 tons of plastic bags are thrown away by Californians annually. This pollution harms marine wildlife such as sea birds and turtles when it is mistaken as food and ingested. In addition, toxins from plastic bags seep into the water
and are possibly absorbed by marine life.
In California, more than 108 communities have already banned the use of plastic bags. While there are many supporters of this bill, some republicans are concerned that the state government is becoming too involved with local government responsibilities. However, other legislators feel that the state government can offer support to the plastic bag industry during the transition that local governments are unable to provide.
Plastic bag manufacturers have formed an opposition group, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, because of concerns with the economic impact of the bill. The group estimates 2,000 jobs will be lost and that grocery stores will profit greatly from the sale of paper and reusable bags. Lobbyist, Paul Bauer, also argues that current plastic bags are not all wasted because consumers find alternate uses for plastic bags.
This bill is paving the way for environmental control; its success could serve as the first step to further legislation to protect the environment and reduce the use of plastics.
Sources:
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/cae/about
Featured image link:
http://www.kinnelonconserves.net/Plastic.html
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This is a very interesting idea. It reminds me of Pitt’s new policy where each student only gets a certain amount of plastic bags at the Quickzones per year. They were handing out fabric bags on campus during orientation week to help reduce the number of plastic bags being used.
Also, I read an article about the California ban which stated that a union for grocery store workers supports the ban. This is interesting considering that other groups have estimated that there will be lots of layoffs. It will be fascinating to see how this ban turns out.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/california-legislature-passes-ban-on-disposable-plastic-bags-1409381457
I like the fact that state governments are taking economical matters into their own hands. Many grocery stores in my area have “anti-plastic” campaigns where they encourage us to use paper instead of plastic. I’m sure those types of campaigns have an affect, but it definitely isn’t as significant as a statewide ban. Because California is one of the first to do this, many states will likely try to do the same thing.
I researched a little bit about this topic and found that some cities like Chicago and New York City are making an effort to reduce their plastic bag usage. NYC is implementing a 10 cent charge on each plastic bag, but it is definitely a step in the right direction to helping the environment.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/27/new-york-plastic-bag_n_5041841.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/chicago-bans-plastic-bags_n_5241854.html