Beginning in the 1970s, disposable plastic bags were seen as more environmentally friendly than paper bags. So stores began the shift to plastic.
Today, shoppers still get asked, "Paper or plastic?" But both choices come with negative effects. The production of all single-use disposable bags, whether paper or plastic, entails lots of energy and resources. And both have dismal recycling rates (10 percent to 15 percent of paper bags and 1 percent to 3 percent of plastic bags, according to the Wall Street Journal).
Now, the most common disposable bags are made of plastic, so it gets the most attention. These bags, made of polyethylene, an oil-based thermoplastic, take about a thousand years to biodegrade. They end up in landfills and, worse, the ocean. But paper bags still take more energy to produce and cost more for stores.
California, with its long coastline littered with white bags, needs a better approach, one that encourages people to make informed choices between disposable and reusable bags. ...
A bill before the California Legislature would adopt Ireland's market-based approach. Beginning in January 2010, Assembly Bill 2769 would require California stores to collect a 25-cent tax on all disposable bags, paper or plastic. Stores would get 5 cents for every plastic bag and 10 cents for every paper bag. The balance would go to a Bag Pollution Fund to clean up the litter caused by single-use carryout bags and encourage the reduced use of single-use disposable bags. ...
AB 2769 would provide shoppers with a choice: Bring reusable bags or pay the true cost of a disposable bag. That should shift market behavior - and help the environment, too.
This editorial first appeared in the Sacramento Bee.
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