As of today, large grocery stores and markets will no longer offer free plastic carryout bags to customers in Los Angeles.
A mockup of one of the bags I am getting my Mom at The Ave. Who wants a generic bag! Not me! (If you grew up around here, you may know what this image is a reference to!)
Stores that will no longer offer free plastic bags to customers include Ralphs, Vons, Albertson’s, Food-4-Less, CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Walmart, Target 7-11 and Mini-Marts.
Recyclable paper bags will be offered at a cost of $0.10 per bag.
Fortunately, The Ave in Venice is expected to be offering up customizable grocery bags by the end of the week when Nick gets back from vacation! Start designing your grocery bags now, we will let you know when they are in stock! It is likely that the bags will be an eco-friendly hemp, or canvas, if they work with The Ave’s printing machines!
Some plastic bags are exempt from the Ordinance because of privacy, health and safety reasons. The following bags will still be made available to shoppers at no charge:
– Produce bags used to bag vegetables, fruit and meat
– Pharmacy bags
– Restaurant bags
– Hardware stores bags (e.g. Home Depot, Lowes, etc.)
– Select retail stores bags (e.g. Macy’s, JC Penny, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc.)
So you know:
– Millions of barrels of oil are used each year to create plastic shopping bags that can rip and tear.
– Plastic is non bio-degradable. It would take 1,000 years for a single plastic bag to decompose or break down, if at all.
– Plastic bags photo-degrade. That means that they break down into small pieces that can be ingested by wildlife and absorbed into the environment.
– When burned, plastic bags create toxic fumes.
