Plastic bags have a split personality: They draw shoppers with their durability and light weight, but environmentalists consider them a scourge. They can end up tangled in tree branches or swirling around in waterways, where they can be scarfed up by unsuspecting aquatic creatures.
"Taking that old familiar checkout question 'Paper or plastic?' to 'What type of reusable bag do you have today?' would be great," said Kate Lowery, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods, which yesterday said it will eliminate all plastic bags from its 270 stores in the United States, Canada, and Britain by April.
The New York City Council passed a law this month requiring stores to collect and recycle bags, following a similar law in the state of California.
Last year, San Francisco passed the nation's first bag ban, which took effect in November. The only plastic bags now allowed for big grocers are made of compostable material. Similar regulations are being considered by cities nationally, though proposals in places like Baltimore and Annapolis, Md., foundered last year.
The United States lags behind many other countries in placing limits on plastic bags. Ireland and Germany levy fees for every bag handed out by stores, and several African nations have set thickness requirements that have effectively banned the flimsy thin bags that float in the air. This month, China, the world's fastest-growing economy, banned free plastic shopping bags and encouraged people to use cloth ones instead.
"This issue is not going away. It is not necessarily going to take over the plastic bag market in a year or two, but it is indicative of a real trend," said Allen Hershkowitz, director of the solid waste program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.
Plastic bags are a favorite of grocers because of their price, around 2 cents per bag, compared to 5 cents for paper.
Environmentalists estimate between 500 billion to a trillion bags are produced annually worldwide. Made from fossil fuel-based polymers, the bags are virtually indestructible, taking years to break down and commonly ending up in landfills. They have been used widely since the 1970s.
