Sept 11 - Update: Davis Moving Ahead With Bag Ban
Update: The Davis City Council unanimously approved a motion last night to develop an ordinance banning the distribution of single-use plastic bags at all retail businesses in the city.
According to today's Davis Enterprise, the ordinance will place a 10 cent charge on paper bags and will most likely be brought back for adoption this fall.
Produce and meat bags will be exempted from the ordinance. There were a couple of options on the table in terms of which businesses would be covered; if the proposed ordinance is approved, it will apply to 475 businesses in Davis.
"The large retail option captures those 44 businesses, which is roughly 80 percent of the bags," said Councilman Lucas Frerichs. "That’s great, (but) I personally think that it should be applied across the board if we’re going to do it at all."
If Davis does adopt an ordinance, it would become the first city in the Central Valley to take action on the issue of plastic bag pollution.
The City of Sacramento is currently considering a Reusable Bag Ordinance aimed at reducing the proliferation of single-use plastic bags in the Capitol City. It is now in the environmental review process.
There are 80 communities in California covered under single-use plastic bag ordinances. Three more, Arcata, El Cerrito and Mill Valley, are expected to finalize their ordinances in the coming weeks.
If you want to take action to reduce plastic bag pollution in your community -- check out our Bag Ban Tool Kit.