| California Plans to Ban Plastic Bags Statewide | |
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Of course, banning plastic bags is good for the environment and reduces our use of petroleum products. I’m all for it, but I’m a little hesitant supporting the fee for store-issued paper bags. Could it have a negative impact on lower income families or does it matter? Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica who authored the bill told the Associated Press, “The biggest way to eliminate this kind of pollution is to ban it.” Agree. So beginning January 1, 2012, the law would require stores to sell reusable bags and charge no less than 5 cents for recycled paper bags if customers don’t have their own bag. If we forget our reusable grocery bags, a few extra cents may not be a big deal for you or me. But for a family who may be pinching every penny or using food stamps, it could become a financial burden. Yes, it would be ideal if we all used reusable bags, but even those can be expensive. I’ve seen reusable grocery bags on sale from anywhere between $5 to $10. So purchasing five bags (maybe more for larger families) would cost $25 or $50. I have heard that California may offer reusable bags for about $1 each. Okay, and how strong and sturdy will those bags be? If they break after one or two uses, wouldn’t they end up in landfills also and defeat the purpose? Hopefully, California will provide free reusable grocery bags, which are strong and durable to low income families. There is nothing wrong with banning single use bags as long as we are not burdening hard-working families who are trying to put food on the table. Source: GO Media -Written by Cindy Tickle - Image Credit: taberandrew via flickr under a CC license
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 written by George Fee , June 25, 2010
Plastic shopping bags are a litter problem-not a landfill problem. Using paper bags is utter nonsense and will result in vast tracts of forests being eliminated. A paper bag is 7 times heavier than a plastic bag and requires 7 times more material handling, trucks etc and causes many times the fuel requirement and consequent CO2 pollution. Much better to legilate to use 0xo-biodegradable plastic bags as has been done in many other countries and has proven successful.
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On Wednesday, the California Assembly passed legislation prohibiting pharmacies and grocery, liquor and convenience stores from giving out plastic bags. The bill passed the California State Senate today, and if signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, it will be the nation’s first statewide plastic bag ban. But the bill doesn’t stop there… customers will be charged for using store-issued paper bags as well.
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