A number of communities in California, as elsewhere in the U.S., have adopted laws to regulate the use of single-use plastic bags from their businesses or ban them completely. In a landmark decision in 2013, Los Angeles became the largest city in the U.S. to ban all single-use plastic bags from stores (source 1). In so doing, the city attracted activists and policy makers from all over the U.S. to follow their lead; cities like Seattle, Chicago, Portland, and Austin have done the same since.
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In the follow-up to this development, state legislature in California passed a statewide law, “SB 270,” that would ban carryout bags and force stores and businesses to sell multiuse plastic or paper bags for at least 10 cents instead. While the law was signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014, it did not immediately go into effect because of strong resistance by the plastic bag industry. Why? California state law allows referendums to be held about new laws if enough citizens sign a petition. A referendum signature campaign largely financed by the American Progressive Bag Alliance, the plastic bag industry’s trade association, achieved exactly this, and so a referendum (“proposition 67”) and an initiative (“proposition 65”) were put on the ballot in California in the November 2016 election. (sources 2 and 3).
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Californians approved the plastic bag ban law and so the measure can go into effect, although with a delay. While environmental advocacy groups like the Surfrider Foundation and others applaud this outcome, it also redirects responsibility for sustainable development back to the citizens and their everyday consumer decisions. (source 4).
Text 1. State Plastic Bag Legislation (February 8, 2021) |
Text 2. CNN Money: California plastic bag ban delayed (February 25, 2015) |
Video 3. UC Hastings College Of The Law: CA Prop 65 & Prop 67: Regarding Carry-Out & Single-Use Plastic Bags (September 8, 2016) |
Text 4. Los Angeles Times: Editorial. California banned plastic bags. Now it's up to consumers to stop being wasteful (November 23, 2016) |