A Plea about the Plastic Bag Ban Bill from L.A.’s Heal the Bay

By: Jessica Belsky, HTB’s Communications Manager

Tell me if this gives you déjà vu: I’m at the grocery store and the woman in front of me is buying a bag of organic potato chips. The man at the checkout asks her if plastic is alright and then promptly double bags her bag of chips.

A while back, a friend told me a story about a surf session ruined after getting an armful of plastic bag while paddling out. Here’s the connection between those two scenes: plastic bags end up in the ocean.

At Heal the Bay, we’ve been educating people about this consequence for years. I know I’m preaching to the converted here on YDT and you all know that reusable bags are the way to go, but if you’ve ever had trouble convincing your friends, here are some things you may not know. Plastic bags are made from petroleum and natural gas, both non-renewable resources. Free plastic checkout bags are not actually free; a grocery store spends between two to five cents per bag, which is tacked on as food costs to the consumer. Litter abatement comes from taxpayer dollars, and with The Guinness Book of World Records naming the plastic bag as the single most ubiquitous consumer product of 2009, you can imagine how many of them quickly become litter to be cleaned up.

Now (as in this week, today!) there is something else you can do to get the entire state on a healthy reusable bag habit. AB 1998, the bill that will ban plastic bags in California, is being voted on in the State Senate this week. If it passes through the Senate, the Governor has already voiced his support on making it law. We need you to call your Senator and let him/her know that you want to support AB 1998, the plastic bag ban bill.

Need help finding your Senator? Go here. A call takes mere seconds: an office staff member will answer the phone and you can simply say, “I’m a member of Senator X’s district and I urge him/her to support AB 1998.” Too shy to call? That’s OK,  send a letter here.

Watch our new mockumentary featuring the voice of Jeremy Irons here and remember, this is a statewide bill, so pass this message on to all your California friends and family, post to your Facebook page and tweet about it too. We are on the cusp of becoming the first statewide bill, so pass this message on to all your California friends and family, post to your Facebook page and tweet about it too. We are on the cusp of becoming the first state to be plastic bag free!

Photo Credit: Sara from The Daily Ocean