Plastic waste has been slowly suffocating the planet since plastic’s conception, and people know it. They put down plastic straws in favor of paper ones, shun individual packaging and bring reusable totes to the grocery store to keep single-use plastics out of landfills. Yet, personal responsibility has not been sufficient to protect the fragile
environment from enduring plastic waste. In California alone, over 12,000 tons of plastic waste enter landfills every day, about 0.5% (around 60 tons) of which end up in oceans.
Californians, however, are one step closer to a less plastic-dependent world in the wake of Governor Gavin Newsom’s passage of landmark legislation on Sept. 22; a total ban on plastic bags in grocery stores.
By Jan. 1, 2026, grocery stores will exclusively offer shoppers paper bags. The state will then join the 11 others with statewide
plastic bag bans, something long in the making for California citizens.
Previously, Newsom enacted Senate Bill 270, which did not ban bags altogether but forbade thin plastic bags. In response, corporations switched to bags made of thicker plastic, which they argued were more recyclable. This subsequently caused a 47% increase in plastic waste overall, as noted by educational community Plastics Today. With the new SB 1053, Newsom closes the loophole and aims to create a greener
future for Californians.
A month after its signing, the bill’s terms have received little attention overall, and often news focuses less on the benefits of banning plastic in favor of communicating the bill’s basics. It’s commonly known that plastic does not biodegrade, thus
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