Dive Summary:
- An ordinance was put into place by Los Angeles City Council to ban plastic bags at stores in the city including grocery markets, pharmacies, convenience stores and certain retail shops.
- Beginning on January 1, 2014, big stores must stop providing plastic bags for purchases, with smaller shops following on July 1, 2014, stores that do not comply will receive up to a $500 fine.
- Los Angeles is the biggest U.S. city to eliminate plastic bag usage, with the ban expected to reach 13 million residents.
From the article:
"...once the ban goes into effect, around one-fourth of California's population will be covered by laws that will move consumers toward reusable bags, said Kirsten James..."
"This is the biggest city in the nation to tackle the single-use bag addiction," James said. "It sends a strong signal to Sacramento that we need a statewide policy."
"Sanitation officials estimate that 2 billion plastic bags are distributed in the city each year."
