|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill prohibiting their use starting next year, the governor’s office announced Tuesday morning.
The ban takes effect for California pharmacies and grocery stores next July and will expand to convenience stores and liquor stores the following year, according to Brown.
“This bill is a step in the right direction — it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”
But opponents have vowed to repeal the bill before it can take effect and are gathering signatures for a ballot initiative.
“If this law were allowed to go into effect it would jeopardize thousands of California manufacturing jobs, hurt the environment, and fleece consumers for billions so grocery store shareholders and their union partners can line their pocket,” the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a group of bag manufacturers, said in a statement Tuesday.
Over a third of California had already enacted a plastic bag ban — 127 local governments have passed similar legislation since 2007, including countywide bans San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties and municipal bans in more than a dozen Bay Area cities, according to the statewide bill’s sponsor, Californians Against Waste.
The town of Danville is among the jurisdictions currently weighing its own potential bag regulations beyond those outlined in the new state law.
“California policy makers spent a great deal of time debating the merits of this issue over the last several months,” Californians Against Waste executive director Mark Murray said. “In the end, it was the reports of overwhelming success of this policy at the local level that overcame the political attacks and misinformation from out-of-state plastic bag makers.”
The bill was introduced last year by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and passed by the state Assembly and Senate last month.
The new law allows stores to use paper bags, but requires them to be made from recycled paper and stores must charge 10 cents a piece for them.
Stores may also sell reusable grocery bags or compostable bags for at least 10 cents each, but can only sell compostable bags if curbside pickup for compost is available.
The state will provide up to $2 million in loans from CalRecycle to assist businesses in adjusting to the new policies.
“A throw-away society is not sustainable,” Padilla said in a statement Tuesday. “This new law will greatly reduce the flow of billions of single-use plastic bags that litter our communities and harm our environment each year.”
Proponents, including the California Grocers Association, hailed the bill’s passage Tuesday, but opponents gathering signatures for the ballot initiative say that their research shows a majority of Californians oppose the ban.
“Since state lawmakers failed their constituents by approving this terrible bill, we will take the question directly to the public and have great faith they will repeal it at the ballot box,” the American Progressive Bag Alliance said.
By
By
By
Appeal over redevelopment project at old Chevron HQ coming to San Ramon councilApril 6, 2026 10:32 pm
Excellent news .. love our state! Can we regulate e-sigs ASAP next.
Yes, liberals love to regulate everything. Next up, they’re going to tell you how you wipe your A$$.
I’m not kidding.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/16/wipes-pollution/2522919/
Oh yeah. And brush your teeth—it’s the law.
We live in an ultra liberal nanny state where liberals love to tell you how to live your life whether you like it or not.
If governor moonbeam and the libs in the legislature had any sense, they would realize that:
1.)People still need plastic bags for everything from household garbage bags to plastic bags to collect pet waste and used cat litter, and now those people will be forced to purchase plastic bags.
2.)There is a real solution to stopping ocean and waterway pollution caused be plastic bags, and that is; instead of banning plastic bags, simply require the plastic in the bags to be made from sturdy biodegradable material. The plastic industry would rise to that challenge and come up with the answer.
Vote the liberal governor and his minions out of office.
Yes, I agree with Resident! How about regulating coffee shops to have recycle bins outside their store. Just stand and watch the number of cups thrown in the garbage from hot and cold drinks. And what irony that those who look at you sideways when you ask for a bag, then get in their monster SUV and drive off.
I am very happy this bill got passed. Only 5% of the literally BILLIONS of plastic bags that get used every year are recycled. Even the recycling companies wanted this bill passed due to the havoc plastic bags cause with their recycling equipment- increased recycling costs were going to happen if this bill didn’t pass. And the grocery associations wanted it passed too.
Doesn’t it make you question the plastic bag manufacturers’ motives when it’s only them fighting this ban?
It’s not just plastic bag manufacturers who are against the ban. I, and many others are against it. Let’s see what the folks say at the ballot box!
I am sick and tired of Government trying to control every aspect of life in California. We pay too much for gasoline due to California regulations. We are told which make and model of firearm we may purchase. We pay too much for electricity …. and the list goes on. Can you say, Tesla Battery Factory?
Unfortunate that for the many who feel the need to be careless and uncaring, throwing bags around (espcially on freeways or freeway on/off ramps), the remainder of us who are conscientious have to be penalized.
What do you suggest I use for collecting dog poops and removing cat litter waste? Shall I use the germ-laden fabric bags that I am supposed to tote into Whole Foods,Trader Joes, et al?
This is most unfortunate and yes ~ ban e-cigs!!
Of course the brain dead lazies come out whining and crying about the plastic bag ban, because it might cause them a moment of inconvenience in their hectic “important” lives. Get over it, you are not that important, and your anger at inconvenience is anger at your own stupidity.
And for the goons that think government over regulates? Move to China then where there are close to zero environmental regulations. Perhaps you would like to breath their air? OK, then connect your car exhaust to your house for one hour per day and keep the doors and windows closed. Or instead of sweeping and vacuuming your house, use a gasoline engine with the toxic fumes exhausting into your house. Or maybe feed your children melamine doped baby food, or better yet, give your babies lead painted toys to suck on.
As for collecting dog poop and cat litter? take it into your own hands, pretend that government and civil society norms are an imposition on you and just start leaving the dog poop on your neighbors lawns and along the paths. And cat litter, just flush it down the toilet like you probably have already and let the waste get processed by anybody but yourself, if not ingested by the fish in the ocean that are then fed back to society.
Oh and for R2, most hot liquid containers are not recyclable. How about just starting to bring your own beverage container and having a conscience?
CONSERVARETARDS don’t get that left up to the individual or the business, we would be living in such deplorable conditions that the sun wouldn’t shine though the smog layer, you would eating and drinking tainted food, you would be driving without safety belts and air bags, drunk drivers would rule the road.
Get a life and realize the good our civil society has achieved through the implementation of laws aimed for the benefit of all.
Yay for the plastic bag ban! Wake up people–Europe and many countries in Asia already regulate plastic bag use and/or have planned bans as well as do other cities across the USA–It’s not just California…if you don’t like it here why don’t you consider moving somewhere else? You may live in a conservative, new money area but the rest of Californians like living in this state because it is so liberal. Also, who puts cat litter in plastic bags where it will take even longer to decompose? Consider emptying your cat’s litter into paper bags–same with the dog poop–nothing wrong with using biodegradable or brown lunch bags to scoop poop. Clearly you should plan a trip to a developing nation to see how much damage the plastic bag does where they don’t have the means to recycle or cover it up. Oh yes and look it up–90% of plastic bags are not recycled anyway. And I agree with coffee shop comment–there should also be recycling bins in every coffee shop and gas station where people like to empty their cars of plastic water bottles & plastic ice-coffee cups. Quit the complaining! Better change your attitude or change your address.
I will continue to get my groceries in plastic bags because that is what I want to do. They may now cost 10 cents. So what.
When I am finished, my plastic bags will be taken to a landfill. They were made from petroleum, a toxic waste product of microorganisms, stored underground for millions of years. The waste product will be returned to the ground to be stored for millions of years. It came from the ground and will be returned to the ground. I didn’t make toxic petroleum. Those microorganisms did. Blame them.
And actually, if it wasn’t for plastic bag users like me, the petroleum would eventually seep into the ecosystem as a toxic liquid or gas. A plastic bag is a more stable way to store this toxin. By using plastic bags, I’m actually helping the environment. You should thank me.
I also won’t be using precious water and harmful detergents to wash goofy looking reusable bags. And I won’t look like a goober carrying a bunch of bags with me while I shop.
Oh, my hearing must have been failing at the last election…….I thought Obama said “Choice,” not “Change.”
I voted for the wrong party.