Yesterday, the Governor of California signed into law Senate Bill 270, which will prohibit grocery stores, drugstores, and convenience stores from providing single-use plastic bags for their customers. It will first go into effect in large grocery stores next year in July, and to encourage people to use their own bags, stores will be required to charge a minimum of 10 cents each for paper and other kinds of bags. This is the first state-wide ban on single use plastic bags in the U.S.
But such bans are not new in many parts of the state. 127 California cities and counties have already developed their own plastic bag ordinances, and where there are no local policies, supermarkets have led the cultural change with signs like: "Did you remember your reusable bag?" Some even offer a 5 cent discount if we use our own bags. The new 10-cent charge for a bag will be a strong incentive for people to use their own bags. An article in the Guardian: No more 'paper or plastic': California adopts strict new law on grocery bags emphasizes that new businesses making reusable bags will be encouraged by the ban. In fact, the state will help plastic bag producers in California to make the switch, thus saving the jobs of approximately 1800 employees. $2m in grants will be available for in-state plastic bag producers so that they can change to manufacturing reusable bags.
Opponents of the bill charged that supporters were influenced by "false environmentalism", but the Guardian reports this reply from the vice president of the California Grocers Association: “The opposition can throw out all kinds of numbers. There is nothing to support that. This is an environmental issue and it’s about getting plastic bags out of the waste stream.” The director of Californians Against Waste, who has been working on the issue for ten years, said: “California policy makers have made a clear and strong statement in enacting the bag ban: Producers are responsible for the end of life of their products. If a product is too costly to society and the environment, California is prepared to move to eliminate it.” In the end, environmental arguments as well as the success of local ordinances overcame strong resistance to the bill. http://www.cawrecycles.org/...
UPDATE: The Fresno Bee today has a story about the reaction to the ban. It quotes a young woman: "If it's better for the world, then it's great -- any little step helps. It always makes me happy to find out somebody important is trying to help. There's so many little steps we need to make." And a young man: "I'm going to do the best I can to teach my kids how to make conscious decisions about things they do, and how it's going to affect the world. We may not make a big difference, but I think if you attempt to live your life in a fashion that at least sets a good example, that's all we can do."
Another BEE article today, California becomes first state to ban plastic bags, has many details about the ban and the opposition to it, such as a plan by a national coalition of plastic bag manufacturers to put a referendum on the 2016 November ballot to repeal the law. The article also points out that the law does not apply to bags used for produce or meats, waives fees for people on public assistance, and limits how the fees can be spent by the grocers who collect them. Other states with pending legislation to ban single-use bags include Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.
To know how your legislators voted on the bill, the roll call is here and here. The entire bill in its incredible detail can be seen here. For example, Article 42283.7 specifies:
All moneys collected pursuant to this article shall be retained by the store and may be used only for the following purposes:
(a) Costs associated with complying with the requirements of this article.
(b) Actual costs of providing recycled paper bags or reusable grocery bags.
(c) Costs associated with a store’s educational materials or educational campaign encouraging the use of reusable grocery bags.
If the referendum gets on the 2016 ballot, another landmark bill signed into law yesterday will help defeat it:
SB 844, which will enable voters to easily find out who's paying for a ballot measure campaign. It will require the official Voter Information Guide to explain where a list of the top 10 funders for and against a proposition can be found on the internet. If people know the proposition is funded by a national group of plastic bag manufacturers instead of nameless "Citizens to save California jobs," it will be less likely to pass.