[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/EW-03-20-14-Plastic-Bag-Ban.mp3|titles=EW 03-20-14 Plastic Bag Ban]
California is poised to become the first state to enact an official ban on plastic shopping bags, with a measure currently before the state legislature.
If passed, it would expand bans already in place in San Jose, San Francisco, and parts of Los Angeles County. Single-use plastic bags would be banned entirely. Paper bags and reusable plastic bags would be offered for ten cents each.
Nationwide, more than 150 communities have some sort of anti-bag policy already in place, but no state has yet to ban them entirely. California has frequently been a leader in environmental issues, and this would be no exception.
Plastic shopping bags are so common they seem benign, but in truth they are far from it. They are consumed en masse, generally discarded after one use, and accumulate in landfills where they can last for up to a thousand years. The vast majority of plastic bags are never recycled, and those that are cause problems at recycling plants, where they often jam sorting machines.
With reusable plastic and canvas shopping bags widely available for a nominal fee, there is no excuse for continuing the mass pollution caused by bags. And while some consumers bristle at bans and fees, they are effective – in San Jose, plastic bag litter in storm drains has decreased 89 percent since 2012 when the ban took effect.
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Web Links
California Endangered Species: Plastic Bags
Photo, taken on February 10, 2010, courtesy of Kate Ter Haar via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.