Statewide plastic bag ban has been long overdue

“Paper or plastic?”

For customers, the answer “plastic” is almost instinctive — after all, nearly 14 billion plastic bags are distributed annually in California alone. But following the recent passage of SB-270, which outlaws single-use plastic shopping bags statewide, consumers will soon face new options: bring their own bag or pay 10 cents for a paper one. The city of Los Angeles already adopted the ban this year. It was effective in large grocery stores and markets as of Jan. 1, and in smaller businesses as of July 1.

According to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, six in 10 Californians support the statewide bag ban, and rightfully so — plastic bags have long been a menace to the environment, and this ban should be openly embraced as an easy solution.

The law takes effect for major grocery chains and pharmacies in July 2015 and will expand to convenience and liquor stores in July 2016. Under the law, stores must replace free plastic bags with recycled paper bags or bags made from compostable material, with a 10 cent fee for shoppers. Shoppers are also encouraged to bring their own reusable bags from home.

Nearly 13 percent of the municipal waste stream is comprised of plastics, including nonbiodegradable plastic bags — which frequently litter waterways, parks and sidewalks — and present a choking hazard to wildlife. The seemingly harmless grocery bags that many consumers use regularly actually have a considerable impact on the environment.

Considering these negative effects, it’s surprising that plastic bags weren’t eliminated years ago. Plastic bags are practically pointless and don’t have any special grocery-carrying powers; they serve the same function as any other bag in simply carrying goods. The only thing plastic bags can do that reusable bags can’t is cause excessive pollution.

Plastic bag pollution has an easily identifiable source — stores. In turn, it has an easily identifiable solution — stopping the distribution of these bags. SB-270 effectively shifts the focus to completely preventing the problem.

Some opponents claim that this outright ban isn’t fair to low-income shoppers, since alternative options involve either paying 10 cents per paper bag or purchasing reusable bags. These opponents, however, completely overlook the fact that the 10 cent paper bag charge will be waived for shoppers relying on the state’s food assistance program.

The readily available replacements to plastic bags are precisely what make the new legislation easy to put into practice. For other environmental issues, the time isn’t right for preventive legislation because there simply isn’t a viable replacement for the harmful product. For example, despite the significant contribution of vehicles to air pollution, the state couldn’t fairly ban gas-powered cars because there isn’t an affordable, highly available alternative yet. On the other hand, in the case of plastic bags, it’s a simpler transition: Shoppers still get bags from stores — they’re just no longer made out of plastic.

Considering the law’s clear benefits and easy implementation, it’s a wonder that 35 percent of voters still oppose the law. Much of this opposition stems from plastic bag companies themselves, who claim the ban will cause job losses. These opponents fail to realize that though the market for single-use, nonbiodegradable plastic bags will shrink, the demand for recycled plastic bags and reusable bags will grow.

In fact, lawmakers already accounted for the ban’s possible impact on the economy; the law allocates $2 million “for the purposes of providing loans for the creation and retention of jobs and economic activity in this state for the manufacture and recycling of plastic reusable grocery bags that use recycled content, including postconsumer recycled material.” The USC Dornsife/L.A. Times poll found that “Voters whose communities had already instituted plastic bag bans were more likely to support the statewide ban, with 69 percent in favor and 28 percent opposed.”

This suggests that residents who still oppose the ban might be doing so because they are not used to the new regulation. The plastic bag ban doesn’t ask much from California residents; it requires just a simple adjustment, a minor inconvenience, if that. Over time, residents will adjust, and the plastic bag will be nearly forgotten.

So why wait? As the first state to implement this ban, California has the opportunity to set an example for other states, sparking a national shift away from plastic bags. With the majority of residents supporting the bag ban, and the legislation set to take effect in just a few months anyway, Californians should obey the ban now, on their own accord. By embracing the bag ban, Californians can show that the ban is not just effective — it’s also popular. Until July, the “paper or plastic?” question served as a test of the plastic ban’s support. But now, “plastic” is not the correct answer.