Santa Monica’s Proposed Plastic Bag Ban

The Santa Monica City Council is on the verge of placing a ban on the use and distribution of plastic shopping bags within city limits in an effort to cut down on the amount of litter that plagues its streets, beaches and the Pacific Ocean.  The City Council is mostly for it and the city’s residents seem to support it for the most part, though they would be inconvenienced greatly by the ban as they would be forced to buy their own reusable bags (how many times do you think you’d forget your reusable shopping bags when going to the grocery store) or be charged a tax for using a paper bag.

There is some resistance to the ban, however.  A coalition of bag manufacturers and store owners have started a website campaign called savetheplasticbag.com in an effort to combat the ban.  With bans already in place in other beach cities (Malibu), it seems as if it’s only a matter of time before the ban is passed in Santa Monica.

Now, I get it.  Studies have shown that nearly 100,000 marine animals die per year due to plastic bags that end up in the ocean.  And what Santa Monica resident wouldn’t mind not seeing so much trash litter his or her city streets.  But let’s be realistic, what about the people who shop outside of city limits and bring the bags into Santa Monica?  In my mind, there’s no way to completely eliminate the problem.  Kudos to Santa Monica all the same for doing something to make a difference.