SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Using plastic shopping bags could join indoor smoking and behind-the-wheel texting as the latest discouraged activity in California if lawmakers succeed in passing the country's first statewide ban on disposable bags.
The state Senate was schedule to vote Tuesday on the bill, which has been the subject of a furious lobbying campaign by the plastic bag manufacturing industry.
It calls the legislation a job killer.
Supporters of AB1998 say the 19 billion plastic bags Californians use every year harm the environment and cost the state $25 million annually to collect and transport them to landfills.
"California is poised to lead a national movement against plastic bag pollution that is injuring and killing marine life and imposing a costly blight on our land," said the bill's author, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica.
The ban, if eventually signed into law, would take effect in supermarkets and large retail stores in 2012. It would apply to smaller stores in 2013.
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12 ways to up-cycle plastic bags
12 ways to up-cycle plastic bags
The scourge of landfills and the enemy of environmentalists, plastic bags have been much maligned in recent years. Starting in 2007, cities around the country have voted to ban or curb the use of these non-compostable carriers in favor of paper or plant-based alternatives. For instance, the San Jose, Calif., plumbing and sewer system was plagued with an overabundance of trash in its storm sewers, and issued a plastic bag ban in January of 2011.
State lawmakers weigh plastic bag ban
State lawmakers weigh plastic bag ban
OLYMPIA -- Legislators will consider making Washington the first state in the nation to ban the use of plastic grocery bags.
Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, said his bill will make carryout plastic bags disappear and charge 5 cents for each paper bag.
The "paper or plastic" debate figures to be a theme this session. Fitzgibbon said his HB 2404 will be one of the five bag bills to be introduced.
Plastic bags find new life as art
Plastic bags find new life as art
Even as more shoppers choose canvas, polyester or Tyvek, the humble plastic grocery bag remains ubiquitous.
Along with recycling or reusing it, why not consider making something with it?
Artists and crafters have experimented with plastic bags for years. Virginia Fleck of Austin, Texas, hopes her work raises awareness about how the bags pollute the environment. She also likes the idea that something so pedestrian can be fashioned into high art.
San Francisco expands plastic-bag ban
San Francisco expands plastic-bag ban
Shoppers in San Francisco will have to pay 10 cents per bag and more retailers are now banned from handing out plastic bags under a proposal approved Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors.
Portland's plastic sack ban will benefit sea life
Portland's plastic sack ban will benefit sea life
Folks in Portland are taking the bold step of eliminating plastic sacks, a green step that has lots of environmental
implications.
First, the key ingredients in making these things are petroleum and natural
gas, certainly things we want to conserve.
Bags can be made from a starch product using corn or potatoes. Again, we
are already using corn to make ethanol to supplement gasoline now. There's not much sense in growing items that can otherwise be used for food instead to made for throw-away sacks.
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