Paper or plastic? If California's push to become the first state to ban single-use plastic bags becomes a reality, consumers may have to jump on the environmental bandwagon and ditch the old-school way of shopping for reusable polypropylene bags.Fueled by a proposed bill AB1998 which charges shoppers throughout California a 5 cent surcharge for every bag used, Walmart launched its plastic bag initiative announcing their "commitment to reduce the plastic shopping bag waste at our stores around the world by an average of 33 percent per store by 2013."
If passed, the AB1998 ban wouldn’t kick in until July 2011, but Walmart has been doing some test runs to see if its a viable option.
In October, Walmart stopped selling single-use plastic bags at two stores in Sacramento and a third shop in Ukiah. Instead of plastic, they hocked small, reusable poly bags for a mere 15 cents and larger bags for 50 cents. A few pundits didn't like the switcheroo, lobbying an attact against the so-called "environmental extremists" for pushing these "lousy bags" to the masses.
However, the environmental benefits are staggering. According to an article here, each 15-cent poly tote could save up to 75 plastic bags.
A harbinger of things to come? Perhaps. San Francisco has already issued a ban the single-use bags.
Amelia Newfeld, a spokesperson at Walmart, says it's too soon to tell if they'll ban single-use bags altogether. "We have to monitor and gauge reaction at those stores," she adds.
