Sorry to my New York colleagues and friends but my home state of California has just proven, once and for all, why the west coast is the best coast ;)
There’s no refuting this awesome fact- today California Governor Brown signed into law a bill that bans plastic shopping bags, making California the first state to do so.
Now shoppers will pay a fee to obtain plastic bags when out shopping, hopefully driving them to bring their own reusable bags out with them.
"This bill is a step in the right direction -- it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself," Brown said in a statement.
And I couldn’t agree more. In California alone 13 million plastic bags are handed out each year. These bags end up in waterways and landfills where they don’t break down for years upon years.
CNN reports that under the law, stores will be required to offer customers recycled paper bags or bags made of compostable material at a cost of at least 10 cents per bag. It’s a small price to pay, considering the incredible effect it will have on the environment.
It’s small steps like this that will have an enormous impact on the world’s poor. People living in extreme poverty are disproportionately affected by the negative effects of climate change, which is made worse by the fact they lack the resources to recover quickly and effectively.
Now it’s time for the rest of the states to follow suit, but until then let’s commit to waste less. Every year Americans produce 250 millions tons of trash, half of which ends up in landfills. It’s time to make a dent in that number.
Whether you’re opting for a reusable coffee mug at work rather than a paper cup, limiting your trash, or carrying a stylish, reusable shopping bag instead of plastic like my friends in California, we can all do more to waste less.