California Set to Become the First U.S. State without Disposable Plastic Bags

Ocean debris worldwide kills at least one million seabirds and 100,000 mammals every year. Plastic is the single largest source of ocean litter. Americans dispose of about 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year. This also involves the use of at least 12 million barrels of oil in their production. According to the EPA, less than five percent of plastic grocery bags are recycled in the U.S.

California State Legislature has taken a bold step to curb this menace by passing a bill that imposes a statewide ban on disposable plastic bags. If signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, this legislation would make California the first state in the country that will become free of retail plastic bags. The ban will prohibit California grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and other businesses from providing the common plastic bags to customers.

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Image Credit: Flickr via PinkMoose

Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.