Green leads as San Francisco bans plastic bags

Thanks to leadership from San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi (above), one of 50 elected Greens in California, San Francisco has become the first U.S. city to ban all non-compostable plastic bags.

From the Green Party of California press release:

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 Tuesday to require the city's grocery stores and chain pharmacies to use only recyclable paper or compostable bags, despite stiff resistance from the California Grocers Association and the plastic industry...

The measure had been delayed after the grocery industry went to the Legislature to intervene. Now, the law goes into effect for 54 grocery stores within six months, and a year for large pharmacies with at least five locations. It benefits consumers in many ways, says Mirkarimi.

The compostable "plastic" bags are stronger, they can be dumped directly into a compost pile because they are made from starches like corn and potatoes and they won't pollute the environment, kill marine life or gum up recycling machines. The cost for compostable bags is about the same as paper bags.