San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi hands out canvas shopping bags, Tuesday, March 27, 2007, in San Francisco. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is to consider passing an ordinance that would require large supermarkets and pharmacies in the city to replace non-biodegradable plastic bags with reusable or recyclable bags, a move that would make San Francisco the first city in the U.S. to introduce such a ban. Mirkarimi, who sponsored the original version of the ordinance, said the proposal has the support of most supervisors, the city’s garbage disposal contractor, and even many smaller retailers, who won’t have to comply with the ban. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – City leaders approved a ban on plastic grocery bags after weeks of lobbying on both sides from environmentalists and a supermarket trade group. If Mayor Gavin Newsom signs the ban as expected, San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to adopt such a rule.
The law, passed by a 10-1 vote, requires large markets and drug stores to give customers only a choice among bags made of paper that can be recycled, plastic that breaks down easily enough to be made into compost, or reusable cloth.
San Francisco supervisors and supporters said that by banning the petroleum-based sacks, blamed for littering streets and choking marine life, the measure would go a long way toward helping the city earn its green stripes.
“Hopefully, other cities and states will follow suit,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who crafted the ban after trying to get a 15-cent per bag tax passed in 2005.
The 50 grocery stores that would be most affected by the law argued that the ban was not reasonable because plastic bags made of corn byproducts are a relatively new, expensive and untested product. Some said they might offer only paper bags at checkout.
“I think what grocers will do now that this has passed is, they will review all their options and decide what they think works best for them economically,” said David Heylen, a spokesman for the California Grocers Association.
Newsom supported the measure. The switch is scheduled to take effect in six months for grocery stores and in one year for pharmacies.
Craig Noble, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it would be disappointing if grocers rejected the biodegradable plastic bag option, since more trees would have to be cut down if paper bag use increases.
The new breed of bags “offers consumers a way out of a false choice, a way out of the paper or plastic dilemma,” Noble said.
Wild Thing’s comment……..
Wasn’t the reason why we have plastic grocery bags is because of the envirowackos didn’t want us to cut down trees by using paper bags ? Time for a I LOVE GLOBAL WARMING bag give away in San Francisco.
So, paper or plastic was too much freedom of choice for these fascists? They’re not happy unless they’re telling you what kind of car to drive, where you can smoke, whether you can have a gun, what words are permissable to say.
Every time I was in Europe I would see them use bags kind of like the one in the photo above. They were fine if only buying a few items. But I never saw people shopping like we do with a whole cart full of groceries. How the heck will a person get all those groceries in one of those bags. Or even several bags like that. hahahaha
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