Looks like LA is following suit with San Fran with a ban on plastic bags. CBS2 reported today that “the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday banned foam food containers from city buildings, beginning July 1, 2009, and ordered plastic bags to be pulled from store checkout counters by July 1, 2010.” They went on to say that “After July 1, 2010, consumers will have to use their own canvas bags or pay 25 cents for a paper or biodegradable bag. Of that fee, 3 percent would go to the retailer, 3 percent will go to the state, and the rest of the money will go back to the city to fund an education campaign.“ It’s like cigarette taxes that fund anti-smoking campaigns.Lately with all the green talk it amazes me we have not addressed this problem sooner. In January of this year China put a nationwide ban on plastic bags which started June 1st and will save 37 million barrels of crude oil every year…at today’s prices of $128/barrel, thats a $48M annual savings.
Currently consumers in the city of Los Angeles use 2.3 billion plastic bags a year and sadly enough less than 1 percent of the 100 billion plastic bags that get used annually get recycled.
