[KHTS] – Gov. Jerry Brown signed a statewide plastic bag ban into law Tuesday.
“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 wrote in a signing message. “We’re the first to ban these bags, and we won’t be the last.”
Senate Bill 270 will phase out single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and pharmacies beginning July 2015, and in convenience stores one year later.
Plastic bags won’t be available; paper bags will be available, with a 10-cent-per-bag fee.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich wrote a letter to Brown recently criticizing efforts to ban plastic bags in California.
“The $0.10 per bag fee will force lower income residents in impoverished communities around the state to pay for paper bags, with little indication of how the money will be spent– or if it will just help line the pockets of major grocery stores,” Antonovich wrote in the letter.
“Environmentalists overwhelmingly supported the measure authored by senators Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens,” according to a statement from Environment California.
“From the thousands of sea turtles that are now safer from plastic bags to the thousands of volunteers who remove these bags from our beaches and rivers, this bill means a cleaner ocean for everyone,” said Nathan Weaver from Environment California. “I applaud Governor Brown for signing SB 270 and phasing out single-use plastic bags. Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our ocean for hundreds of years.”
Plastic bags are a direct threat to wildlife, like the Pacific leatherback sea turtles that mistake them for food, according to a statement from Environment California.
“A study of over 370 leatherback sea turtle autopsies found that one in three had plastic in their stomach, most often a plastic bag,” according to officials at Environment California. “Plastic bags are also one of the most common items littered on California’s beaches according to Ocean Conservancy’s annual beach cleanup data.”
More than 125 California local governments have already banned single-use plastic bags, including Los Angeles, Oakland, Long Beach, San Jose, and South Lake Tahoe. More than 1 in 3 Californians already live somewhere with a plastic bag ban in place.
“This victory belongs to the whole environmental community,” said Weaver. “In particular, I salute my colleagues at Heal the Bay, Surfrider, Azul, 7th Generation Advisors and Californians Against Waste for their terrific work on this bill.”
– Kimberly Beers
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41 Comments
This is stupid…. Brown paper bags cause more pollution then these plastic bags and are lots harder to recycle..
FACT: brown bags denigrate and recycle, plastic bags do not. Now, what is stupid?
My family has used re-usable bags for about 10 years now. It’s not to hard and they are sturdier than plastic or paper. This is a step in the right direction.
I use reusable, I throw them in the laundry and they are ready to shop. It’s so much easier to carry and they don’t tear. Ever been walking across the parking lot with bags full of groceries and had one of them tear?
Let’s re elect him so we can get 4 more years of great laws
I’m with you…LET’S RE-ELECT HIM!
Because THIS is what needs attention these days?
yes,I see you’ve been busy with the kids but we need to pay more attention to the planet…environment and climate.
I stopped using plastic bags when I switched to reusable baby seal skin bags.
Baby seal skin is good, however i found that reusing my Sumatran Tiger bag really goes well with my Leatherback Turtle boots.
I reuse my plastic bags all the time…If they are so concerned then provide the cloth reusable ones for FREE! Paper ones don’t solve the problem. ..
Baby seal skin???… no one caught that?
I think they were being sarcastic, Kate. :)
I did.
I wish I knew someone who made plastic grocery bags. I’d have them make a few hundred that just say “Jerry Brown sucks” and bring them grocery shopping with me.
This law is so stupid!! It’s all about money and bullcrap!! Isn’t it funny how 25 yrs ago paper bags were the devil and we NEEDED to switch to plastic. Now plastic is the devil but they are going to charge us for paper bags. An item they gave us for FREE not 6 months ago!! ALL CRAP!!
What about people who come here on vacation and go to the store are they suppose to bring bags on vacation with them? Just ridiculous!!
Yes. My husband and I went to Paris for our 1 year Anniversary, because we didn’t want to eat out every meal I looked up the local grocery store near our hotel and upon doing so found out France does not supply bags so I made sure to bring my own. I totally agree with this law. If someone on vacay doesn’t take the time to research then they should have no problem paying for a reusable bag.
Or just paying 0.10 cents for a paper bag…
This is a load of bs . How are paper ones sturdier anyways ? The handles on those things are a joke I have the whole foods “reusable ” ones that for the record are made of plastic … So let’s get rid of plastic ones for free to charge you for plastic ones? Ugh bs bs bs
Well thought out, you are
Reusable? And here I’ve been tossing the baby seal skin bags after one use.
“The $0.10 per bag fee will force lower income residents in impoverished communities around the state to pay for paper bags, with little indication of how the money will be spent– …… How will this law FORCE low income people to pay for paper bags? They are capable of saving bags right now, for instance, to use later. I am certain that they can afford to buy a 99 cent reusable bag, each week. If I have to, I will have a fundraiser to purchase reuseable bags for the low income folks. That is dumb.
FACT: it’s not about FORCING people to buy brown bags, it’s about limiting our use of plastic. There’s plastic in the Pacific floating around big enough to cover the state of Texas.
Jerry Brown sucks.
what a joke
I can carry a dozen donuts and two cups of coffee. I don’t need a bag.
They do this where I live now, I think it’s great that they are finally doing this where I get up! Great incentive to start getting reusable bags, and to stop just getting new ones each time you go shopping!
Good! And btw I don’t see brown bags floating in the air or littering the freeways, side walks, trails, oceans, lakes, parks.. ect. And also, all you crying about having to buy a reusable bag for a dollar, give me a break. You’re probably commenting on this link with your smart phone. Buy reusable bags.
Am I supposed to put my dog’s poop in a reusable bag, as well??
Yes Apryl or you could use paper, if it was up to Brown we would be picking it up with our hands and he would ban all antibacterial soap
What a miscreant tool; who never fulfilled his good ideas, yet fulfilled his worst notions.
Bald Führer Brown.
Coercion like this used to be considered evil, as it very is.
very well spoken,Daniel
Jerry Brown is worried about Yes Means Yes and plastic bags while he is inviting people to break federal law and live in California illegally (off your tax dollars). This state has officially lost its mind, especially looking at his poll numbers.
Only will benefit government
A good move. Plastic bags are wasteful and people are irresponsible with them. I’m willing to bet most of the people complaining about this are also the ones who dont care that they are littering our roadways, polluting our oceans and land fills and injuring wildlife on a larger scale than they could ever imagine. I used to kayak in the wetlands Newport. The mountains of trash composed of thousands and thousands if plastic bags was unbelievable and totally disgusting in the wetlands. What do you people think is going to happen to all these bags that take thousand of years to degrade when you are done with them? There is a whole cascade of events surrounding plastic bag use. Just because you were allowed to use them didnt mean you should. Get a grip and stop complaining about having to use reusable bags. There are much bigger things to concern yourselves with. If that’s all you have to complain about, you must have a pretty good life. Our mindset needs to change when it comes to conservation and preservation. This is a good start.
Ummmm, I pick up my dog poop w them, now I will have to buy little plastic bags from the store for my bathroom trash cans and for dog poop. Paper is good again? What about all the trees? Get rid of one and another issue pops up.
I love how this law makes it possible where my Walmart can’t give bags but the toys r us can freely give giant plastic bags just fine. Makes zero sense. A complete waste of time and money all around.
I love how this law makes it possible where my Walmart can’t give bags but the toys r us can freely give giant plastic bags just fine. Makes zero sense. A complete waste of time and money all around.
Now we have to buy our own beach-polluting plastic bags.
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