Jun 29 -Gov, Advocates, Celebrities Call on Shoppers, Retailers & Local Gov to Sack Plastic Bags Despite Industry Financed delay

SACRAMENTO – A coalition of state leaders, celebrities and environmental advocates are marking what should have been the last day for plastic grocery bags in California by urging shoppers, businesses and local governments to take action to eliminate the polluting plastic anyway, despite an industry-financed effort to delay the law.

SB 270, by former Senator (now Secretary of State) Alex Padilla, was adopted by the legislature and signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014. That law was scheduled to take effect July 1, 2015 and would have been the first statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags in the nation. Implementation has been delayed until November 2016, pending the outcome of a referendum financed by plastic bag companies in Texas and South Carolina.

At a press conference and reusable bag giveaway at the Sacramento Natural Food Co-op tomorrow, Secretary Padilla will call on Californians to stop using plastic bags and announce the launch of the #MyBag social media campaign.  The new social media campaign will feature the Office of Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins and other public figures taking to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to show off their reusable bags, explain how they reduce plastic pollution, and urge their social media followers to do the same using #MyBag.

On Wednesday, a reusable bag giveaway will also take place in San Diego. Sacramento and San Diego are among the latest cities preparing to join 137 local governments in California that have already implemented local bans on single-use plastic bags.

WHAT:                      Plastic Bag Ban Press Conference and Reusable Bag Giveaway
WHERE:                   Sacramento Natural Food Co-op (1900 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95816)
WHEN:                      Tuesday, June 30, 2015 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
WHO:                         Secretary of State Alex Padilla (author of CA bag ban)

Every day that California’s statewide plastic bag ban is delayed, 17 million more plastic bags are sold in the state that would not be sold if the ban were in effect. The delay is providing plastic bag companies with $138 million more in revenue from July 1, 2015 to November 2016.

California vs. Big Plastic: www.CAvsBigPlastic.com