Please contact State Senator Noreen Evans at (916) 651-4002 and urge her to vote yes on AB 298!
The California State Legislature is considering a bill (AB 298) that would ban plastic checkout bags at supermarkets, retail pharmacies and convenience stores statewide starting in 2014. Assembly Bill 298 would also require those retailers to provide reusable bags for sale and charge a fee for recycled paper bags as an incentive for customers to remember their reusable bags. California could be the second in the nation (after Hawaii) to pass a statewide plastic bag ban but it won't happen without your support!
AB 298 must be voted on and passed by the Senate by August 31, and your Senator needs to hear from YOU. Let your representative know that you’re fed up with plastic bags trashing our communities and beaches, and tired of wasting taxpayer dollars on plastic bag litter cleanup.
Or sign the petition at https://www.change.org/petitions/california-plastic-bag-ban.
Californians use an estimated 12 billion plastic bags a year. Before the L.A. County bag ban took effect in 2011, residents consumed approximately 433 single-use plastic bags each per year. Unfortunately, the immediate convenience of plastic bags comes with long-term economic and environmental costs for all Californians.
California cities and counties have led the charge in banning plastic bags. Now the California legislature has the opportunity to eliminate plastic bag waste statewide by passing AB 298. AB 298 will create a uniform California policy—creating regulatory certainty for businesses and consumers—that phases out single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, retail pharmacies, and convenience stores statewide and encourages consumers to use reusable bags, the most sustainable alternative. AB 298 will significantly reduce plastic bag litter in our communities and on our beaches, save taxpayers money, and promote green jobs.
