October Green Tips: California Says Goodbye to Plastic Bags On September 29, 2014, and after five attempts, California became the first state in the country to ban single-use plastic bags at all grocery and convenience stores. Senate Bill 270 (SB 270) will ban single-use plastic grocery bags in California at all large grocery stores and pharmacies effective July 1, 2015. The ban will extend to all remaining small grocers, convenience and liquor stores effective July 1, 2016. SB 270 requires retailers providing paper bags to have at least 40% recycled content and charge no less than 10 cents (which has been determined to be the average cost to retailers for providing the bags). Consumers purchasing groceries under the state’s food assistance program (WIC/SNAP) are exempt from the paper bag charge. Why are we banning plastic bags? The harm that they do to the environment is well documented and here are a few examples: Light and easily airborne, plastic bags quickly get into our waterways and persist for decades. Both on land and in rivers, lakes and oceans, plastic bags threaten wildlife through ingestion and entanglement, killing 100,000 marine animals yearly. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastic bag production exceeds the alternative (reusable and recycled paper bags). Annually, the CO2 equivalent of those emissions in California alone is 350,000 tons. The sheer number of bags to deal with is staggering. In 2012, 13.1 billion plastic bags were generated in California and 107.7 billion total were made in the US. Plastic bag generation peaked in the US in 2000, at about 900 plastic bags per capita, and has been steadily declining since then. More on the legislation: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island all have pending legislation to ban single-use plastic bags in their states. This environmentally friendly policy is gaining momentum throughout our country. And globally, 20 countries have already banned plastic bags. SB 270, the California bill, also allows for $2 million in loans for plastic bag manufacturers to convert to making recyclable bags. This was done to address concerns that jobs would be lost by the plastic bag ban. A coalition of plastic bag manufacturers called The American Progressive Bag Alliance says it will seek a voter referendum to overturn the law. With three months to gather the more than 500,000 valid signatures needed to place a referendum on the November 2016 ballot, the group says it will push to make sure the law does not take effect until voters have a say. Thank you, California, for taking the lead and doing what we can to reduce pollution, protect wildlife and their/our habitat, and cleaning up our precious home by enacting SB 270. We are proud to live and work here and appreciate the chance to report on this good news. Remember to bring your reusable bags when shopping, especially in Sonoma County, where the ban began September 1, 2014. And for more information about the issues presented in this months Green Tips, check out the web or contact Jude Frates, the owner of Frates Consulting and author of this article, at: [email protected].
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 05:26:38 +0000
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