Ban Plastic & Paper: December 15 Is 'Day Without A Bag'

As part of the continued effort to ban single-use bags in Los Angeles, Heal the Bay has dubbed Thursday, December 15 "Day Without A Bag." The event is appropriately timed, as L.A. City Council is expected to move forward with a sweeping ban on single-use shopping bags next week.

Considered "a holiday gift for the planet," Day Without A Bag urges Southlanders to go without single-use bags by gifting shoppers with free reusable bags to use during their retail adventures. Over 60 L.A. County locations will host grassroots bag giveaways and peer-to-peer education conducted by "a diverse range of engaged citizens, from Girl Scouts in Agoura Hills to seniors in Covina," says a Heal the Bay release. Check out the giveaway site map here.

But the free reusable bag giveaways do not stop after December 15. "Green Santa," accompanied by his band of L.A. County Public Works' Eco-Elf Patrol, will distribute bags to patrons at high-profile shopping areas throughout the L.A. area through January 1, 2012. Shoppers spotted using reusable bags will score prizes.

Let's talk single-use bag ban history. In November 2010, L.A. County approved an ordinance banning plastic bags in unincorporated areas and placing a 10-cent charge on paper bags. The measure became effective on July 1 for supermarkets and will kick in for liquor stores and convenience markets on January 1, 2012. L.A. is ringing in the new year in green style.

L.A. City Council is considering a ban on single-use paper and plastic bags at grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies. The ordinance, which would be the most far-reaching of its kind in the nation, is slated for a vote next week.

A Heal the Bay release says that over 4 million Californians now live in communities where plastic bags are banned. Other municipalities that have bagged plastic bags include Long Beach, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Malibu. Other cities, like Huntington Beach, Burbank, Glendale and Beverly Hills, are working toward similar bans.

Here's some food for thought, courtesy of a Heal the Bay release.

An estimated 2.33 billion single-use plastic carryout bags and 400 million single-use paper bags are used annually in the city of L.A. With less than 5% of those bags being recycled, the vast majority winds up gobbling up precious landfill, clogging storm drains or fouling our oceans.