It has been more than a month since Los Angeles went plastic-free, but the city is still continuing efforts to remind its residents about carrying their own reusable bags while shopping. Since January 1 of this year, LA has banned large grocery stores and supermarkets of the city from providing free plastic bags to their customers to carry groceries and other purchases. This ban made LA the largest city in the country to prohibit the use of plastic bags in large stores.

Reducing Plastic Bag Menace by Using Eco-Friendly Shopping Bags

This move of banning plastic bags was taken by the city as an effort to bring down the harmful and negative consequences that they have on the environment. These bags not just turn into an eyesore when they are found hanging by the trees, but also prove dangerous for marine life. Also, they clog waterways and take up landfill space.

Ever since the ban has come into effect, shoppers are required to either carry their own cheap eco friendly shopping bags or buy the paper bags given by the stores by paying a fee of 10 cents. This fee has been implied to remind shoppers that they need not pay extra if they bring reusable bags with themselves while shopping.

Enrique C. Zaldivar, Sanitation Director of Los Angeles, explained that around 19 billion plastic bags are used every year in California. It takes thousands of years for a plastic bag to decompose. He feels that using a plastic bag is more or less like punishing the environment because the shoppers may use the bags once or twice and dump them off, but these bags tend to stay forever in the nature, harming its quality. He further said that this ban is the least that can be done for changing the attitude of the residents of LA and make them come together in fighting the menace created by plastic bags. From July 1, this ban will extend even to small grocers as well as continence stores.

Giving up on Plastic Bags with Cheap Eco-Friendly Shopping Bags

A ban on plastic bags does not mean that shopping experience will not remain pleasant anymore for the residents of LA. Apart from cheap eco friendly shopping bags, they still have quite a few options like baskets, boxes and buckets for carrying their purchased goods from the stores. All these options are environment friendly and much more reliable than plastic bags.

Source:http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12497:city-residents-are-reminded-to-bring-reusable-bags-when-shopping&catid=80:local&Itemid=170