Los Angeles County Bans Plastic Bags At Grocery And Convenience Stores

Bags be damned in L.A. County.

The California legislature couldn't do it. The city of Los Angeles hasn't done it. But the L.A. County Board of Supervisors got it done: It voted to ban plastic bags in grocery and convenience stores.

The action Tuesday still needs final approval, but that's likely. The move would make L.A. County the "country's largest government entity to enact" such a ban, according to the office of county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

But ...

... the move would only cover unincorporated areas of the county: Cities like L.A. would still have to enact their own bans it want to end this plastic plague.

Still ...

The county states that about one million people live in unincorporated areas. That's a lot of people.

The Weekly was told the vote was 3-1 with Mike Antonovich just saying no and Don Knabe just not there at all.

"With this vote, Los Angeles County becomes a national leader in the movement to promote the use of reusable bags," stated Ridley-Thomas. "Single-use plastic bags take a significant toll on our environment and infrastructure. The vast majority of plastic bags ultimately end up clogging our storm drains, threatening our local waters and wildlife, and become blight within our communities."

As part of the law, paper bags will see a 10 cent surcharge, and plastic bags must be phased out by Jan. 1 [corrected as a result of typo from the supervisor's office] July 1. Smaller, mom-and-pop retailers will have until Jan. 1, 2012 to get rid of plastic.

A final vote is expected within 30 days.