Orcutt shoppers should start hanging onto their dimes, because checking out at the grocery store just got a little less convenient and a little more environmentally friendly for residents of unincorporated communities.
A Santa Barbara County ordinance banning single-use plastic bags went into effect Tuesday, March 22, prohibiting large grocery stores, liquor stores, and pharmacies in unincorporated areas from distributing plastic bags. Instead, the retailers will sell reusable grocery bags and 10-cent bags made from recycled paper.
The ban, approved by the county Board of Supervisors last August, will roll out in two phases: Its implementation in large retailers (defined as stores bigger than 100,000 square feet or whose annual sales total $2 million or more) started March 22, and smaller stores will come under effect on Sept. 24.
But according to Public Works Department Project Leader Carlyle Johnston, “Very few people are even going to notice this.”
That’s because only seven stores countywide came under the first part of the ban, three of which are located in Orcutt: Spencer’s, CVS, and Albertsons. Johnston said these companies are all familiar with plastic bag bans, as such bans have already been implemented in 147 California communities.
According to the Santa Barbara County Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, plastic bags are not blue-bin friendly, so they often end up as litter or in landfills. An investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission found that the United States used more than 100 billion plastic bags in 2008—none of which could be recycled.
“There’s just no market for them,” Johnston said. “Recently, even in the last few years, there was a market for film plastics—non-rigid plastic containers. That’s gone away.”
He added that retailers affected by the ban will continue accepting clean, used plastic grocery bags for reuse, as mandated by state law, for the foreseeable future.
The Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division website said plastic bags are problematic because their material is lightweight, making it easy for the wind to carry the bags around or for animals to eat them. The bags also don’t degrade easily, making them “a permanent object made for only minutes of use,” according to the website.
An environmental impact report on the policy revealed the following benefits of a single-use plastic bag ban:
• Improved air quality, thanks to reduced air pollution from the manufacturing, transportation, and use of plastic bags.
• Healthier biological resources, as fewer plastic bags means less litter entering local creeks and coastal habitats.
• Cleaner water resources, due to reduced litter in storm drain.
Still, not everyone is on board with the idea. The ordinance passed through the Board of Supervisors by only a 3-2 vote, with Steve Lavagnino and Peter Adam voting against.
Lavagnino pointed out before the vote in August that in some places, like Hawaii, stores don’t use plastic bags but still offer recycled paper bags for free.
“I’ve never been against banning the plastic bag, I don’t have a problem with it,” he said. “But I’m going to vote against this because of the fact that it forces you to pay for a paper bag, which I think should be provided for free.”
Similar bans are already in place in the cities of Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Carpinteria, as well as all the cities in San Luis Obispo County.
This article appears in Mar 24-31, 2016.
