Did you know that a surprising number of cities and countries have (or are in the process of) changing the law so that citizens are penalized for using plastic bags in grocery stores? The most recent city is Seattle, which will be voting on August 18th whether to charge a 20 cent fee for the use of plastic and paper bags in stores, as well as styrofoam containers. However, Seattle is certainly not the first city to take this step in reducing the amount of bags clogging gutters and landfills. Many of the plastic bag bans are actually modeled after the Ireland PlasTax charge of 15 cents per plastic bag; within weeks Ireland reduced its total use of plastic bags by 90%, as customers opted to use reusable sacks instead. Italy and Belgium also tax plastic bags, and shoppers in Holland, Switzerland, and Germany pay for their grocery bags. Even in India, several cities and states have already put a plastic bag ban in place to reduce flooding. As for California, San Francisco already instituted a ban in 2007, and as the Los Angeles Times reported, LA City will begin a ban in July 2010. The law will now, however, apply to the entirety of Los Angeles county. Is it enough?