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Los Angeles bans plastic bagging in stores

11 Comments

The city of Los Angeles announced it will ban all plastic bags from retail stores as of July 1, 2010, following similar anti-pollution regulations already enforced in San Francisco.

The second-largest U.S. city behind New York, Los Angeles, with its four million population, will ban plastic bagging in all supermarkets, grocery and retail stores, the Los Angeles City Council said in its new regulation.

After July 1, 2010, all store customers must provide their own bags or purchase bags made of paper or other biogradable material from the store for 25 cents, it added.

The goal is to rid the city of some 2.3 billion non-biodegradable plastic bags that are distributed each year and end up polluting waste dumps for a long time.

San Francisco in 2007 became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from its stores.

Both city regulations are intended to pressure state lawmakers who are considering a bill to eliminate plastic bags across the state by 2012.

Several countries around the world have already adopted laws banning plastic bags, which often end up killing animals that swallow or get caught up in them.

© Wire reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
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Good.

I carry two large nylon bags when I go to the store, anymore.

But I have 2 large dogs so I still like a few plastic bags to collect pooh.

It's a tough decision. < :-)

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adaydream -

Get the dogs to 'go' before you go walkies. Removes the need for plakky bags and makes the walkies more pleasant - especially on the way back, when you don't have to carry a large, stinky plakky bag!

Moderator: Back on topic please.

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It's good to see an American city actually doing something positive at the consumer level. It would be good if major cities in Japan did the same. I believe that in Japan most bags end up getting incinerated which in theory is better for the environment (high enough temperatures are supposed to avoid release of harmful chemicals like dioxin). In practice, however, it seems many incinerators do not do what they are supposed to.

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Right cleo. You may retrain them if you like. Hee Hee!! < :-)

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My kitty likes to sleep on a crinkly plastic bag, but I can recycle one for that use.

This is a good idea; plastic bags have been banned for a while in many places, while othe countries require stores to charge for them to encourage the purchase of environmentally friendly alternatives.

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I don't know if complete elimination is the answer. I mean, think about it.... what do you toss your garbage away in? nylon bags? burlap? back packs? I take a back pack or reusable (nylon or what have you) bags as often as I can when I go shopping, but what do I do when I just randomly pop in for some grocies while passing by a supermarket? What's more, a complete elimination of plastic bags, while initially seeming like a good thing, will INCREASE the overall need for plastic garbage bags, and in countries without recycling blue/green boxes, increase the need for said bags to put plastic and other recycling in.

Partial elimination, with an extremely high price on any desired plastic bags would be a more suitable first step while we find other ways to (catch up to countries who have) better how we put out garbage/recycling. Forget the meagre 5 cents/yen per bag; charge $10! The desperate will dole out for it, but rest assured they won't leave home without their own shopping bags again.

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I use plastic, put the decent unused ones in a bin, and re-use them later.

When they have outlived their usefulness, I toss them in the garbage that I don't separate.

-And then I sleeps well.

Oyasumis.

USAR

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Banning plastic bags is a feel-good measure for people who are looking for something that won't force them to make major changes in their lifestyle (such as not driving a huge SUV to the supermarket). By not using a plastic bag, they get to feel they're doing something for the environment, while burning huge amounts of fossil fuels roaring up and down the freeways.

If LA banned SUVs and left plastic bags alone, you'd see a marked improvement in the environment.

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Did they bag your stuff like here in Saudi. I go to the store and the guy puts one item in one bag. I always tell them to fill it up. I used to have a huge bag of bags for the small trash bins around the house. I decided to just take my own bag.

What I want to know is is this plastic recyclable. I could go out in the street and catch them like butterflies if they were worth something.

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Los Angeles doing good job

banning plastics.

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At first, it was very inconvenient not to use plastic bags for the purchase. Yet, now it's ok. No problem. The B.J. whole sale store does not provide plastic bags.

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