Might Ban on Plastic Bags Head South?

Shoppers will not hear the mantra "paper or plastic?" in many parts of Los Angeles County starting in July. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has given preliminary approval to a ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and retail outlets in the county's unincorporated areas.

The ban, which is an attempt to cut the number of plastic bags used by half, is the supervisors' response to the state Senate's failure to pass a statewide ban. While the ban applies only to the unincorporated areas, the board hopes that the county's 88 cities will soon follow suit.

Laguna Niguel Reaction

 In its current form, the measure calls for a 10-cent charge for single-use paper bags, in the hopes that customers will opt for the long-term gain of reusable bags.

But "those bags cost half a penny each," says Ryan Florian, a local grocery chain employee whose concern is fairness, and "they want to make the stores charge people 10 cents for them."

Joel Bellman, press deputy for L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, argues that the new measure is actually more fair.  

"The existing system forces everybody to pay for the store's plastic bags whether they use them or not. This new plan will only impose a 10-cent charge if you choose to use paper bags.  If you do what we hope you will do, and buy a sturdy, reusable bag, you no longer will have to pay for bags that you are not using, and you can use them over and over again."

Not Final Yet

The measure is not yet in its final state, and the 10-cent charge could be dropped. If the ban does remain in its current form, Bellman explains, California's most impoverished consumers, those on food stamps, will be entitled to a free bag. Everyone else will have to pay the 10-cent-per-bag fee or bring their own.

Is such a charge justified in the face of the environmental implications?  Florian does not think so.

"Plastic bags do not even use that much oil.  In fact, I think it takes more oil to make paper bags." 

 According to a recent report by Boustead Consulting, polyethylene bags use less water, oil and energy to make than paper bags that are made with at least 30 percent recycled fibers.

Loss of More Jobs

Another objection to the bag ban is that local workers will lose jobs, as California is one of the largest makers of plastic bags in the country.  State Sen. Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel) voted against the statewide ban, citing that reason.

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Walters said she is more concerned about helping her constituents put food on the table than banning plastic bags. 

The American Chemistry Council estimates that more than 500 jobs would be lost in the Los Angeles area alone if a statewide ban was passed. But in response to Walters' reasoning, a local Laguna Niguel resident who chose to remain anonymous asked, "If she is so concerned about putting food on the table, why isn't she concerned about the fact that our food is contaminated by the plastic bags that she refuses to ban? Those bags break up in the ocean into smaller and smaller pieces, and then they enter the food chain through the fish. It's toxic."

Is Cloth Better?

One health concern involves reusable—not plastic—bags. Many of the cheaper bags that are manufactured in China and sold widely throughout the U.S. have been found to contain excessive levels of lead. Although the lead is not easily leached out onto the shopper's food, over time, as the bags wear down, the paint can flake off and leave harmful deposits of lead on groceries that have not been wrapped in more plastic.  This problem can be remedied by buying bags made in the U.S. by more reputable manufacturers, but the cost can be high, with the average American-made bag costing from 5 cents to $25. 

 Ralphs, which sells the less expensive reusable bags, is having its bags tested by an independent third party. It is currently awaiting results.

Most consumers don't seem overly concerned about lead content, however, preferring to concentrate on the overall environmental implications.

As local resident Jennifer Bischoff carries her groceries out to her car, she explains why she prefers her store-brand, reusable cloth bags to plastic bags.

"They're not as wasteful, because I don't reuse those plastic bags. I would just toss them.  These bags are so great; I can use them for anything.  I use them for lunch and taking things to and from work. It was very inexpensive to buy them, and then I also found out that for these bags in particular, part of the sales go to charity." 

Despite her decision to opt for reusable bags, she does not support a ban on plastic.

"I don't like to force people to do something, but I think that it's a step forward that everybody should choose to take." 

Do Your Part

For now, resistance by consumers and lawmakers to a statewide ban makes a local one unlikely, but consumers can still do their part to help out the environment by switching to reusable bags. Many chains offer incentives in the hope that consumers will do what Bischoff has done. Ralphs offers a nickel bonus per bag to shoppers who use their own.

Olivia, Bekka and Mike, who work for the local Albertsons, say their store goes one step further. "Sometimes, when you buy certain items, the reusable bags are completely free," Olivia says.

"Yeah, when you buy six bottles of wine, you get the wine bag for free," Bekka adds. "We just got new bags in, and they're very cute." 

"We are trying to push those," Mike says, "hoping that people will really want to use them more." 

Consumers who wish to learn more about the debate over plastic bags can visit healthebay.org and americanchemistry.com.