The anti plastic bag and styrofoam sentiment’s rising — but all the different state, county, and city-level initiatives can get confusing. Below are the current anti-plastic rules for L.A.-area residents. [Originally published 7/24/08; updated as of 7/14/11]
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State of California

Current regulation: None as of yet.

In Aug. 2010, AB 1998, a bill that would have banned single-use plastic bags, went down with a 21-14 vote in the California State Senate. Before that, AB 2058, which would have instituted a 25 cents per bag fee if voluntary measures to decrease plastic bag use by 70% by July 1, 2012, died late 2008.
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LA County

Current regulation: Plastic bag ban went into effect July 2011.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to ban plastic bags in Nov. 2010. Retailers in the unincorporated areas of L.A. County now can’t use plastic bags and must start charging 10 cents per paper bag — which must be made with at least 40 percent post-consumer recycled waste. Supermarkets and large retail pharmacies have had to comply with the law beginning July 1, 2011, while liquor stores and food marts have until January 1, 2012.

Prior to that decision, the LA County Board of Supervisors passed legislation in January 2008 asking for VOLUNTARY reductions in plastic bag use. Stores bigger than 10,000 square feet that use plastic bags a lot were told to voluntarily reduce plastic bag use by 30% by 2010, then 65% by 2013. If the reduction goals weren’t met, an automatic plastic bag ban was to kick in — which is exactly what happened.

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City of Los Angeles

Current regulation: No plastic bag regulation.

If no state anti-plastic-bag efforts pass before July 2010, LA was supposed to ban plastic carryout bags in supermarkets and stores by July 2010. However, this has yet to come to pass.

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City of Long Beach

Current Regulation: Plastic bag ban will go into effect Aug. 2011.

The City Council voted to ban plastic bags in May 2011. Retailers in the city now can’t use plastic bags and must start charging 10 cents per paper bag — which must be made with at least 40 percent post-consumer recycled waste. Large retailers will need to comply with the law beginning August 2011, while small retailers have until January 2012.

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City of Santa Monica

Current Regulation: Styrofoam ban went into effect February 2008. Plastic bag ban will go into effect Sep. 2011.

The styrofoam ban’s been implemented quite well — you can report restaurants still using styrofoam here.

An ordinance to ban plastic bags passed in Jan 2011, and will go into effect Sep. 2011. That ban comes after a long battle: Back in February 2008, the Santa Monica City Council voted to draft an ordinance banning one-use plastic and biodegradable plastic-like bags in the city. However, when the draft finally came back to the Council in January 2009, city staff recommended delaying a vote — due to the threat of litigation from the plastic bag industry. Once environmental impact reports were completed — and L.A. county successfully passed its ban without triggering lawsuits — Santa Monica followed suit.
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City of Malibu

Current Regulation: Plastic bag ban went into effect October 2008.

In May 2008, the Malibu City Council voted to banish single-use plastic bags AND plastic-like compostable bags at all retail stores big and small, effective October 2008. Businesses ranging from grocery stores to small boutiques have to de-plastic-bag or face fines up to $1000
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City of Manhattan Beach

Current Regulation: Plastic bag ban should have gone into effect January 2009 – July 2009 — but the ban is on hold due to a lawsuit filed by the plastic bag industry.

Manhattan Beach voted on July 1, 2008 to ban both plastic and bioplastic bags, effective within 6 months for large stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and city facilities and in a year for all remaining vendors and retailers. The plastic industry group — self-dubbed the “Save the Plastic Bag Coalition” — has now sued Manhattan Beach, claiming that the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not fully analyzing the environmental effects of the ban. The city’s fighting the industry group; the ban’s on hold in the meantime.

However, in July 2011, the California Supreme Court ruled Manhattan Beach can go forward with its bag ban — so expect the ban to go into effect soon.

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Yep, we’ve got a crazy patchwork of anti disposable plastic laws — which is why Heal the Bay’s feeling more optimistic about the statewide plastic bag tax. “The grocers’ association is sort of realizing that a statewide policy might be better,” said Kirsten of Heal the Bay — mainly because dealing with all the individual city-level policies is a “logistical nightmare.”

In the meantime, many individual companies are coming up with their own de-plasticking rules. Whole Foods already banned plastic bags on Earth Day this year, and Ikea plans to nix all plastic bags by Oct. 2008.

Photo by Envirowoman

Update, 4/29/09: Film review — Addicted to Plastic: Become a plastic expert in 85 minutes

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Anti disposable bag advocates: Get ready to celebrate Independence Day 24 hours early. July 3 is the 2011 International Plastic Bag-Free Day — a day you can declare independence from plastic bags!

In Los Angeles, this no-plastic celebration will come even early on July 1 — when plastic bags will officially be banned in Los Angeles County! Plus, paper bags will no longer be free. Opt to kill a tree, and you’ll need to pay a dime for the privilege — though your eco guilt may be a bit assuaged by the fact that those paper bags will still be made from 40 percent post-consumer recycled content and be 100 percent recyclable.

Before you rejoice that you’ll see no plastic bags littering the streets of Hollywood starting next month, I have to burst your bubble and let you know that this plastic bag ban may be a little less dramatic than you were hoping.

Why? The Los Angeles County bag ban applies only to unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. That means businesses in most of the incorporated cities — including the City of Los Angeles itself — will still be able to give out both plastic and paper bags for free! In addition, even in the unincorporated areas of L.A., smaller stores will have until January 2012 to comply with the ban.

The good news is that many cities in L.A. County are passing their own bag bans. Malibu banned plastic bags back in 2008. And since the L.A. County bag ban was approved by the Board of Supervisors, many cities have modeled their own bag bans after the County’s ban — and started passing their own bans. Among the cities that will be banning plastic bags this year are Santa Monica and Long Beach.

Meanwhile — Keep reusing your reusable bags –

Earlier:
>> Bag fee means bag free — or what shoppers in D.C. do to save 5 cents
>> Bring your own bag: How to BYOB in easy eco-style
>> Sunday solutions: Banning and taxing plastic bags
>> Styrofoam and the City: The fate of plastic bags and polystyrene in LA

Photo by Kate Ter Harr

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Trying to get disposable plastics out of your life? Here comes a photo that’ll scare you into stepping up those efforts. Above is a photo of the plastic debris found in a single juvenile sea turtle accidentally captured in Bahía Samborombón, Argentina.

Turns out, that unlucky turtle is hardly the only one mistaking plastic for food. In fact, SeaTurtle.org has many more such photos of scary plastics that turtles have managed to ingest.

What can you do about this plague of plastic in the oceans? Start by cutting back on the amount of disposable plastics you go through. Find out more about the plastic problem — and what you can do about it — by watching “Bag It” on TV or the theater in April.

Earlier:
>> Bag the brown bag: Eco-friendly lunch boxes and totable utensils
>> Bring your own bag: How to BYOB in easy eco-style
>> Bring your own cup and mug: An eco-stylish money-making habit
>> How to BYO, reduce and reuse 2.0

Photo by Victoria González Carman/SeaTurtle.org

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Made a New Year’s resolution to free yourself from disposable plastic bags this year? If you’ve kept your anti-plastic pledge so far, Earth Month will bring to public television a film that’ll make you feel great about bagging the bag habit — before scaring you about all the other plastics in your life and their effects on the environment and your health.

More seriously, the eco-documentary “Bag It” sounds like an entertaining and educational primer on disposable plastics and their discontents. Told from the point of view from Jeb Berrier, a regular guy in small town Colorado, “Bag It” begins with the story of a single plastic bag given out with a plastic cup of yogurt — and goes on to explore the far-reaching and unavoidable effects of plastic around the world.

You can watch “Bag It” free next month — from the comfort of your own home. During Earth Week, a 56-minute version of “Bag It” premiers on public TV stations. Check your local station for air dates and times — or watch the full, 78-minute film with your neighbors at festival and community screenings.

How? The film will be featured at Whole Foods’ Do Something Reel Film Festival, which hits 70 U.S. cities during April. In the L.A. area, the festival will be held at the Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex in Santa Monica and the Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 in Pasadena. “Bag It” will screen on April 2 and April 3.

Plus, the filmmakers are planning an additional 100 public screenings across the U.S. In L.A., California Greenworks will screen the film on Sat., April 23 from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm at Kenneth Hahn Park, 4100 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles.

Earlier: Film review: Addicted to Plastic — Become a plastic expert in 85-minutes

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Are you a disposable bag addict? At a time when plastic bag bans and paper bag fees are going into effect around the world, green home blog Re-Nest has come up with a funny quiz: The Disposable Bag Addiction Test.

The 20-question quiz is somewhat reminiscent of medical office pamphlet quizzes that screen for alcoholism or alcoholism. “Have you made a resolution or commitment to quit your disposable bag habit, but haven’t fully kicked it yet?” asks the quiz. “Do you feel depressed, guilty, or remorseful after you use or throw away a disposable bag?” “Do you hide your disposable bags in cabinets, closets, or drawers?”

The straightforward questions are rather funny to read through because it tackles a very simple problem — plastic bag use — in a very somber tone. Yet it’s also true that in real life, the simple, habitual use of plastic bags creates the big, somber problem of dead marine life, plastic pollution in the oceans, and giant clean-up fees for taxpayers.

Some of the questions will likely strike home. As a green blogger, I’ve received a lot of comments over the years from people who believe they can’t or won’t be able to kick the plastic bag habit. Those people are very likely to answer yes to “Do you usually have “good” reasons for using disposable bags?” and “Do you fear the inconvenience associated with ditching disposable bags?” The most common “good” reason people give me is that they reuse their plastic bags as trash liners and doggie doo bags.

Do you have excuses for clinging to your disposable bag habit? Let me know how you score on The Disposable Bag Addiction Test.

Photo by Kate Ter Harr

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