Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors bans single-use plastic bags

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The most common complaints about plastic bags were that they destroyed the environment and were wholly unnecessary.

"There's a very viable alternative, and that's cloth or canvas bags, and there's no reason for us to have to decide between paper or plastic," said Gail Wilke, a San Fernando resident and ban supporter.

The ban will take about six months to go into effect. A similar ban was proposed at the state level earlier this year, but it was ultimately defeated. The Los Angeles County ordinance does not include the city of Los Angeles, but County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky says it will set the standard for other local cities to follow suit.

"We warned at the time that if the state doesn't pass a uniform ban, there will be local bans popping up all over the place," Yaroslavsky said. "And this is the first one, at least the first one of any major county."

Yaraslovsky cites Santa Monica and Culver City as two other cities gearing up to implement their own bans. The average American uses an average of 500 bags per year. That is more than 19 billion bags total being used countrywide.

While some think lugging a reusable bag to the market is inconvenient, environmental groups say it is worth the extra effort. Heal the Bay blames plastic bags for polluting the ocean and destroying sea life. Mark Gold, the executive director of Heal the Bay, says that bags do not just end up on the beach.

"When you look at the LA River, it looks like we have plastic bag trees," Gold said. "When you look at the ocean after a rain, and it looks like a trash dump, those days have to stop."

Opponents of the ban say it will cause lay-offs in the plastics industry and narrow the job market at a time of soaring unemployment rates. Supporters say it will not eliminate jobs, but it will create a new market of green, eco-friendly jobs.

China, India and Bangladesh have all banned the use of single-use bags. American supporters of the plastic bag ban are hoping California will be next.