Mercury News editorial: California should enact plastic bag ban
City by city, county by county, California is well on its way to banning single-use plastic bags.
More than 75 municipalities, including San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles, have their own ordinances. The movement has gained enough momentum that even the 400-member California Grocers Association has seen the light and favors a statewide ban.
Sen. Alex Padilla's bill, SB 405 would accomplish that goal, putting an end to the scattering of "urban tumbleweeds" littering our parks and waterways. The Pacoima Democrat's plastic bag ban will be heard on the Senate floor this week. The Senate should approve a bill that will greatly improve the environment and eliminate the current confusing hodgepodge of community ordinances.
It's incredible that Californians use more than 14 billion plastic bags a year, draining 2 million barrels of oil in the manufacturing process. Environmentalists have made a massive effort over the past two decades to improve recycling efforts, but only 5 percent of plastic bags are recycled statewide.
Some consumers object to the notion of having to buy reusable or paper bags. But most shoppers fail to realize that they're already paying; supermarkets pass on the costs of plastic bags, the annual equivalent of $10 to $40 per household. Padilla notes that consumers pay again for the privilege of using plastic bags when their tax dollars are used to clean up waterways and fund landfills.
Plastic bags take hundreds of years to biodegrade. In the meantime, they break into hundreds of smaller pieces, injuring and killing thousands of birds and other animals every year and contaminating the food chain.
full: http://www.mercurynews.com/editorials/ci_23346649
= new reply since forum marked as read
