You're probably used to this scene by now: standing at the checkout line, watching folks drop items into one plastic bag after another.
The Vallejo Times-Herald reported that at one Safeway in Solano County, California, 23 out of 30 shoppers left with plastic bags. But here's the good news: Despite this deeply ingrained habit, people in that same county said they endorsed an upcoming state ban on these bags, signaling a major positive shift in the fight against plastic pollution.
Environmentalists have long celebrated the move. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, around 12 million tons of plastic enter the sea from land each year. This pollution is devastating to wildlife.
"Turtles, sea birds, fish may eat microplastics," Doug Darling, strategic coordinator for the Vallejo Watershed Alliance, told the Times-Herald. He explained that a bag on the shore can "get brittle and break up into pieces. Animals eat that plastic and die."
In the Golden State, thick plastic bags will be phased out by Jan. 1, part of a growing trend.
"So much ends up in the ocean," Vallejo resident Claire Urzi said. "It's a problem for marine life. I think it's a good move."
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Greg Denson, another Vallejo resident, agreed. "I don't have a problem with plastic bag bans," Denson said, noting he has relied on reusable bags since 2015.
That kind of support is widespread and backed by powerful data from around the country. Environmental America detailed how, in just five U.S. locations, including New Jersey and Vermont, these bans have already stopped an estimated 6 billion bags per year from being used.
On average, a single ban means one person will not use roughly 300 plastic bags every year. When the Garden State put its ban in place, it experienced a stunning 96% drop in the number of bags handed out.
The results are showing up in the environment, too. Areas with these policies have had a 25-47% drop in the number of plastic bags found during cleanups, reducing wildlife entanglement by up to 37%.
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Should plastic grocery bags be banned nationwide? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Absolutely 👍 The life-saving impact is even clearer in places such as the United Arab Emirates. There, Ulrich Wernery, a veterinary medicine researcher, reported a "tremendous, very good reduction by 60 to 80%" in the number of camels dying after eating plastic bags.
With this success, some shoppers are focused on the next big hurdle. "I just wish industry would get rid of the plastic," Denson said. "In a lot of cases, you have no choice."
For some, the solution is to take matters into your own hands. As a Facebook commenter put it, "I take my own bags most of the time." Another wrote: "BYOBag. That's the solution."
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