In 2016, California voters voted to uphold a ban on thin single-use plastic bags, which were what most stores offered. However, since this ban was passed, stores began passing out thicker plastic bags, which are supposed to be reusable and recyclable.
This change has actually led to a substantial increase in plastic waste. This is because most recycling facilities don’t recycle plastic bags, resulting in them being sent to landfills. A recent state study found that Californians’ plastic bag waste has gone up from eight pounds per person per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per person per year in 2021 – at least in part due to the thicker plastic bags, which are substantially heavier.
In order to prevent plastic bag waste from continuing to grow in California, we must ensure that all plastic shopping bags are banned in our state.
In the state legislature, Democratic Senator Catherine Blakespear revealed a new bill that aims to ban all plastic shopping bags by 2026. Just as California was the first state to place any type of ban on plastic bags by banning the thin plastic bags, California should follow suit and get rid of plastic bags entirely.
Instead of using plastic bags, people could switch to other reusable bags. While the thicker plastic bags can theoretically be reused, most people throw them away after a single use, as they don’t look reusable. People should get bags that they are more likely to reuse, like cotton or canvas tote bags.
In other states, plastic bag bans have worked. In Vermont, after a plastic bag ban, a survey estimated that the ban saves 191 million bags per year. California should use other states as an example and follow their lead in banning plastic bags.
Another reason the new ban against plastic bags should be passed is that the original ban allowed for a loophole. The original law allowed stores to sell bags if they charged 10 cents, and they made the bags thicker and heavier.
One of the reasons plastic bags are so harmful to the environment is that they never biodegrade, and while they can be recycled, they usually are not. Meanwhile, other types of bags, like cotton, could be more easily reused, while other options like paper bags are biodegradable and you can easily compost or recycle them.
However, there are many advantages to plastic bags, which have helped them become so widespread. For example, it takes significantly less energy and solid waste to produce a plastic bag than to produce a paper bag. They are also much more convenient and cheaper, and after you use them, it is easy to just throw them away.
Although plastic bags are cheaper and more convenient, due to their environmental impacts they should not be used. California should pass the bill to finally ban all plastic bags in stores in order to prevent more plastic waste in our world.
