LA County Bans Plastic Grocery Bags
Kudos for Los Angeles for passing an ordinance that bans supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies from giving customers single-use plastic bags.
The new LA County law, which also requires stores to charge 10 cents for each paper bag, is designed to motivate consumers to purchase environmentally-friendly reusable bags.
“Plastic bags are a pollutant,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a county supervisor who voted for the measure. “They pollute the urban landscape. They are what we call in our county urban tumbleweed.”
The ordinance, which will go into effect next July, will initially impact 67 large supermarkets and pharmacies throughout Los Angeles County, but eventually the ban will cover 1,000 stores. The law only applies, however, to unincorporated areas, meaning stores in the county’s 88 cities, including Los Angeles, will not be affected.
