A plastic bag sits along a roadside in Sacramento, California. Photo Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Environment United States17. October 2024

Bring Your Own Bag: No More Plastic in These Grocery Stores

By 2026, plastic bags at grocery stores will be banned across California.

“Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health. With the governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all,” says Jenn Engstrom, director of the California Public Interest Research Group.

Consumers can bring their reusable shopping bags or receive paper bags at the checkout counter. As of now, twelve states, including California, have some statewide ban on plastic bags in grocery stores; however, research has revealed it is not enough. In California alone, studies indicate that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed – not recycled – per person per year stood at 11 pounds in 2021, up from 8 pounds in 2004. Banning all plastic bags in grocery stores – thick and thin alike – is expected to bring this number down once and for all.

Source:
The Guardian

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