Palm Springs plastic bag ban going well amid statewide vote
To ban plastic bag statewide or to leave it up to local cities? California residents will now get to decide come November.
Several desert cities have already said goodbye to plastic, including Palm Springs. We take a look at how it’s going.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the statewide plastic bag ban into law in September, but before it could go into affect in July, an effort to repeal it, put it on hold. Now voters will decide during the November election.
“I think that would be more fair. I think people should be able to vote on that. I still think it’s a good thing, it saves a lot of waste,” said shopper Jay Juiliano.
“I think it’s a great idea to vote on it, get the opinion of what people really think about it,” said Susan Evans.
“It was already decided upon, now we are going to do it all over again. I don’t think it necessary, it’s wasting time and money,” said Pat Coppa.
Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs have already put their own plastic bag bans into place.
“We are using it as a way to kind of brand Palm Springs too that, “Hey we are going green and we want to make sure that people are aware of the changes,” said Palm Springs Sustainability Manager Michelle Mician.
For four months, shoppers in Palm Springs made two choices for groceries, a reusable bag from home or one from the store.
“I usually bring my own bags yes,” said Evans.
“When we are on vacation we take our recyclable bags as well,” said George Scovroski.
“Even before it did, I bring my own bags. I am getting used to that, they do that in Europe, why not do it here? Why fill up the land fill unnecessarily?” said Coppa.
The city says it’s already starting to cut down on waste.
“I am hearing from people already, especially some employees from the larger chain stores are saying we see less plastic bag trash in our parking lots before we were seeing bags flying around,” said Mician.
Whether it’s all of California or just the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs hopes it will be consistent for shoppers.
“We want people to shop and know I always have to bring my bag where ever I go,” said Mician.
Other desert cities also have bans in the works, Indio’s becomes mandatory July first. Palm Desert’s begins for large stores on April first.
