Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores

[bhdean]

LOS ANGLES (AFP) - The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.
The second-largest US city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.
After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents (0.25 dollar), it added.
The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.
San Francisco, 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of here, also in California, in 2007 became the first US city to ban plastic bags from its stores.
Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.
Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.


Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores - Yahoo! News

[Woodmonkey]

I think we're going to see more and more of this. I know some stores up here give you back a nickel for every bag of your own you use.

[Anth]

Its a good thing to do. I use very few plastic bags as I got into the habit of filling my backpack with groceries at university (easier to carry a backpack on a bike than a couple of plastic carrier bags) and normally just carry smaller things in my hands or pockets. A lot easier, and means you don't have the bags all over the house too!

[jjvman]

They are handy in some places, as in our daughter's apartment. She has to scoop the doggy do. A small plastic bag is easily stored in a pocket and works well. But, as in everything else, common sense should tell people to dispose of a plastic bag properly. As a kid, I remember many shoppers had cloth or "leather -covered" (I think it was called oilskin) bags of their own they brought with them and carried the groceries home. This would also reduce pollution and oil imports.

[bhdean]

I can remember life before plastic bags in supermarkets. I was all paper bags, then plastic bags came along and they would ask if you wanted paper or plastic. Then some store went only to plastic bags. Now more stores are back to paper bags. Isn't funny how things have gone full circle.

[Snowden]

Paper is much better, I think. I have cloth bags for the store. Sadly, all too often, they remain in the car. I'm getting better at remembering, but when my husband goes alone he never thinks of them. Not a problem, but they do keep the plastic from piling up!

[bhdean]

I have a stockpile of both plastic and paper bags at the house. I always have a use for them. My wife uses the plastic to clean out the cat litter boxes.