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# Plastic bag ban on the front burner
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/plastic-bag-ban-on-the-front-burner/
- Published: 2008-02-29T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T18:40:49.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Eateries have issues with reusable bags*

CITYWIDE In the sustainability slogan of “reduce, reuse and recycle,” City Hall is affixing a fourth measure — ban.

Just weeks after the prohibition of Styrofoam take-out containers went into effect in the city’s dining establishments, the City Council decided on Tuesday to tackle the next big environmental threat, directing its staff to devise an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic bags from all local retailers. A draft is expected in the coming months and if adopted, businesses would have six months to comply.

The prospect of a plastic bag ban in Santa Monica has received widespread support from the community, urging city officials to follow the leads of their colleagues in cities like San Francisco, which banned non-biodegradable plastic bags last year.

Environmental leaders often point to the detrimental effects that plastic bags have on the marine bio life, polluting the waters and killing thousands of sea animals that mistake it for food every year. Many also note that plastic bags are a wasteful use of petroleum, a finite resource that would be better served in other forms, like medical equipment.

“I think we need to start making those choices,” David Allyn, a health care analyst from West Hollywood, said on Thursday while shopping at Vons. “Those are petroleum based and we should be getting off of that.”

The prospect of switching from the useful plastic bags to reusable bags doesn’t seem to faze some local consumers who say they don’t foresee a disruption to their shopping routine if the ordinance passes and wouldn’t opt for a market outside city limits.

“I get really annoyed when they pack groceries in 15 bags,” Gemini Adams, a Santa Monica writer, said during a grocery excursion on Thursday. “I would be really happy. My biggest pain in life is when they use 20 bags and (I) only need one.”

Other residents have already been proactive and made the switch to reusable bags.

“My girlfriend usually shops with two to three linen bags,” Dan Gregoire, a Santa Monica resident said on Thursday.

In addition to banning single-use plastic bags, which are often distributed by grocers and liquor stores, the proposed ordinance could also require retailers to charge a paper bag fee, a step toward slowly changing consumer behavior and encouraging a switch to reusable bags, city officials said.

Councilmembers Bob Holbrook said he would have a problem with an ordinance that would force business owners to charge a fee for paper bags, adding that it’s part of the cost of doing business.

While the intent with the fee might be to encourage customers to begin using reusable bags, Holbrook said he believes retailers will charge no more than a penny a bag.

The council unanimously agreed that plastic bags don’t have a place in Santa Monica, hoping the ordinance will change consumers’ reliance on the bags.

“We’re one little small corner of the earth,” Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom said during the meeting. “(But) this is going to make a difference I hope in other communities.”

Californians go through an estimated 19 billion plastic bags every year, approximately 6 billion of which come from Los Angeles County alone, according to statistics by the California Integrated Waste Management Board. City Hall in 2005 conducted a survey of 25 local grocers and food markets and found they distribute a total of 23 million plastic bags each year.

Benjamin Kay, a biology teacher at Santa Monica High School who brought several of his students from Team Marine and the Heal the Bay Club to the meeting, said that as an avid surfer, his arms often get caught in plastic bags.

The students in Team Marine, Heal the Bay Club and S.A.G.E. have led several marches in protest of plastic bags in the past three months, including in December during the “Day Without A Plastic Bag” event.

Several of the students spoke during the meeting.

“I think they speak on behalf of all Samohi faculty and staff and many of the student body who are increasingly embracing and practicing the use … reusable bags,” Kay said. “It’s an easy change to our lifestyle.”

Andrew Casaña, a representative of the California Restaurant Association, said that while he doesn’t oppose the ban on plastic bags, some of his members have expressed concerns about possible cross-contamination in bringing reusable bags containing produce into the kitchen. Casaña added that a fee on paper bags could prove challenging for some of the small mom and pops, like taquerias, that mainly use small paper bags for carry-out items.

“The last thing we want is something to come into the kitchen that is reusable and all of a sudden it’s cross-contaminating everything,” Casaña said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 29, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022908.pdf?ref=smdp.com)