San Diego Tentatively Adopts Plastic Bag Ban

The City Council voted Tuesday to tentatively ban single-use plastic bags. The vote came in at 6-3 after much pressure from several communities and environmentalists over increased trash collection and pollution caused from stray bags ending up in creeks, streams and our waterways.

Technically the ban is only tentative, with a second reading in two weeks where the ban will become official if passed. After that, the ordinance would go into effect within 40 days.

The tentatively approved ban would reduce the 700 million single-use plastic bags being used in San Diego yearly. Statistics estimate only 3% are recycled.

Dissenting opinions stem from a statewide proposition that will be on the ballot in November. The state wide ban is expected to pass, meaning San Diego will be just slightly ahead of the game.

Wondering if you will be affected? The bag ban applies to all single-use carryout plastic bags but is limited to certain types of stores. Restaurants and dry cleaning/laundry facilities are exempt; and bags at the grocery store for produce and meat will still be allowed.

A six-month grace period will be in effect for grocery and retail locations, so there is still time to stockpile for us at-home users who happily reuse these bags for trash bags, pet clean-up and more.