Paper V. Plastic

With two bills in the legislature threatening to ban plastic bags for good….again…The Globe spoke with grocery store managers on just how the ban would effect them.

For the past several decades, California has gone back and forth between using paper or plastic. While “Paper or plastic” were common words at supermarkets and grocery stores across since plastic bags first became commonplace in the early 1970s, environmental concerns about deforestation and saving trees in the 90s led to plastic bags being favored, with special plastic bag recycling bins even being placed outside of grocery stores. However, by the early 2010s, plastic bags began to be seen as a nuisance, leading paper bags to become favored and plastic bags facing a ban. While it flip-flopped back and forth for awhile, new recycling methods for paper bags led to a final action against plastic bags in the last several years. This included two new bills this year, set to be the final nail in the coffin for plastic bags.

Assembly Bill 2236 and Senate Bill 1053, authored by Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) respectively, would remove the option to have any kind of plastic bag at food stores and convenience stores. Both bills would act as an expansion of SB 270, a 2014 bill that was ultimately approved of by voters in 2016 as Proposition 67, which had banned all one time use plastic bags and only allowed thicker plastic bags to be purchased in stores.

A big factor change was also reusable bags like canvas bags or tote bags. These grew in popularity during the 90s. While they saw something of a decline during the Pandemic, roughly between 20% and 80% of customers use them today, heavily dependent on the store and region. However, even with this large percentage, the debate of plastic and paper still manages to rage on.

“Honestly, reusable is the best option,” said a grocery store owner in Glendale to the Globe on Friday. “Get a few good canvas bags, including a lined one for cold things, and you’re set. Economically, even selling bags for ten cents doesn’t net us a lot of money.

“So this plastic bag ban, it is going to make things difficult for those who just want store paper bags. If they are just getting dry things, it’s fine. But if they are getting refrigerated, frozen or otherwise wet things, paper bags don’t have the best integrity when it comes to that.

“These new ones are stronger, but if it all starts perspiring enough, they aren’t 100%. Anyone who shopped at stores in the past, you know you use plastic for colder and wet things, and if it is heavy, then put it in a paper bag. This gets rid of the best option for the customer. I know, the environment. But we’re in a rut now. We charge, say, a dollar for a bag to get people to use canvas bags, then suddenly we’ll have so many people breathing down our necks about screwing the customer over and hurting poorer customers. We make them free, and we lose money, not to mention few people using renewables. Getting rid of the plastic options just boxes us in.”

A grocery store assistant manager in Fremont added that “These bills are not making any of us happy. I don’t care if the California Grocers Association are behind those bills. We hate it. Customers hate it. The only ones indifferent are our customers who bring their own bags. Honestly, bringing your own should be the default, with paper bags made available to purchase in case you forgot them or something.

“And look. We care about the environment, but by putting all this into place, it’s hurting us. Better option would be to charge paper or plastic like 50 cents each or a dollar and get more people using reusable bags. This way it helps the environment, customers are turned to more of an effective option, and stores can make a small profit from the bag sales. But you know they’re just going to scream bloody murder about what poor customers will do. Seriously, that’s where we are at and what would be best, but we are not there. Paper or plastic but with a heavy focus on reusables. We did that for many years  very successfully. We just forgot about that.”

Both AB 2236 and SB 1053 are currently being heard in legislative committees.