June 27 - LA City Bag Ban Signed Into Law
On Wednesday, Los Angeles officially became the largest city in the country to pass a local ordinance phasing out single-use plastic grocery bags. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the measure into law, one of his final acts as mayor before he leaves office this week, according to a story in the Los Angeles Daily News.
The ordinance will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014 for large stores; smaller stores must comply by July 1. If customers don't bring in their own bags, stores can charge up to 10 cents each for paper bags.
"This will make for a cleaner, greener L.A.," Villaraigosa said. "Every year, we use 2 billion bags. That's 5 million bags a day and only 5 percent of them are recycled. This is one more step to make us the cleanest, greenest city in the United States."
With the adoption of LA City’s ordinance, one in three Californians now lives in a community that is covered under a local ordinance banning single-use plastic bags.
Photo Credit: Leslie TamminenLanh Nguyen