By Brooke Mallory, OAN Staff
Monday, September 23, 2024 4:56 p.m.
Under a new rule signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday, Californians will no longer be able to choose between paper or plastic shopping bags at the register when checking out at grocery stores.
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California previously banned supermarkets and other food retailers from selling thin plastic shopping bags, but customers could still purchase bags made from thicker plastic that was deemed recyclable and reusable.
State lawmakers approved the new bill last month, which will ban all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. From now on, shoppers will only be asked if they want a paper bag if they don't bring their own.
Meanwhile, Rep. Katherine Smith Breakspear, a Democrat who lives in Encinitas and currently serves in the California State Senate, argued that Californians aren't recycling or reusing plastic shopping bags, citing a state study that reports that the amount of plastic shopping bags wasted per person has increased from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021.
Democratic officials also said previous plastic bag bans have not reduced the total amount of plastic used.
In 2014, the California Legislature passed a statewide ban on plastic bags, and voters subsequently approved the measure in a 2016 ballot initiative.
“We are literally choking the planet with plastic waste,” Breakspear said in February.
The environmental group Environment America Research & Policy Center also announced that 12 states, including California, “already have some form of statewide plastic bag ban in place.”
As of Sunday, the new law finally “fulfills the objectives of the original plastic bag ban,” according to the California Public Interest Research Group.
“Plastic bags cause environmental pollution, break down into microplastics that contaminate drinking water and threaten our health,” said Jen Engstrom, the group's executive director. “Californians voted to ban plastic bags in our state almost a decade ago, but this law clearly needed reworking. With the Governor's signature, California has finally implemented a total ban on plastic bags at grocery store checkouts.”
James Golden, also known as “Bo Snerdly,” commented on the news of the plastic bag ban. Golden is a talk radio producer, call screener, and radio host. The Rush Limbaugh Show.
“Democrats are Democrats. They won't ban criminals from entering this country, but they will definitely ban plastic bags and straws,” Golden posted on X.
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