Sept 16 - SF's Bag Ordinance Expands In October
On Oct. 1, restaurants in San Francisco will be restricted from handing out single-use plastic bags for take out and delivery, according to cbslocal.com. They will be required to switch to compostable plastic, paper or reusable bags.
The City’s Environment Commission has been monitoring the City’s bag ordinance since it went into effect in 2007, according to chairman Joshua Arce.
"I’ve seen it in myself. You don’t need a bag. You can take your items and you can walk it home , or you can take the extra step of bringing your own bag so you don’t need to use a bag," he said.
The ordinance was expanded to include all retail establishments last year.
"What we’re really seeing is that the behavioral shift in recognizing that it is easy to bring a bag is happening and in many cases you don’t need a bag to move your items from place to place," Arce said.
Californians use over 13 billion single-use plastic bags each year. That’s more than 400 bags per second. And these bags, which are used for about 5 minutes, stay around for hundreds of years. Because they don’t biodegrade, the plastic pieces just break into smaller and smaller pieces.
And plastic bag pollution isn’t just due to littering. These lightweight bags are easily picked up by the wind. Once in the environment, they clog storm drains and waterways, costing taxpayers millions to clean up.
One in three Californians will soon live in a community that has restricted plastic bags.
See the list here.