California Enacts Ban On Single-Use Plastic Bags
By
Sam Sanders |
NPR
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
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Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill banning plastic grocery bags throughout the state. "This bill is a step in the right direction," he said. "We're the first to ban these bags, and we won't be the last."
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Now to California where a new law will ban single-use, plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores. It's the first state to do it, and plastic bag manufacturers are not happy. NPR's Sam Sanders reports.
SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: In Los Angeles, reaction to the news was a bit muted.
LUIS NAVARRO: They should have done it a long time ago.
JIM DOUGLAS: One small piece in a big picture.
ANDREA EVANGELISTA: Once you get used to it, it's no big deal.
SANDERS: That's Luis Navarro, Jim Douglas and Andrea Evangelista. They're all at Beethoven Market, a little corner store in West LA. The law won't actually change anything for them. The city of Los Angeles already has a ban on plastic bags at stores. So do more than 100 cities and counties in California. This new law though will make the rest of the state catch up. It'll roll out over the next two years, starting with big chains. Stores will be able to sell environmentally friendly bags for 10 cents. Cory Coombs, who was also in Beethoven Market, says the ban is really just a sign that California is finally catching up to other parts of the world.
CORY COOMBS: I'm from Barbados. We don't use plastic bags. (Laughter) We use actual bags.
SANDERS: Plastic bag manufacturers might challenge that definition of actual. They continue to push back against the new California law. Sam Sanders, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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