The vote to ban plastic bags was unanimous. South Pasadena’s City Council approved a ban for grocery stores, farmers’ markets and retail chains alike to go into effect June 2014. By planning to order and hand out w reusable shopping bags as part of the legislation, the South Pasadena government is making it easy on residents and store owners at once. There is no need for single-use bags in grocery stores, and there is no need to complain about the reusable bags to replace them.
Mayor Khubesrian approved of the ban and highlighted the amount of oil needed to produce the bags in the U.S. every year (12 million barrels), while Councilman Michael Cacciotti mentioned the amount of money needed in California along to provide space in area landfills ($25 million). That’s a whole lot of waste for something that carries groceries from the store to the car and the driveway to the kitchen.
When you consider that it just takes reusable shopping bags to replace single-use bags, the ban seems like the most common-sense legislation the City Council will pass this year. In fact, complaints about the bans in L.A. and San Francisco have quickly fallen by the wayside when residents saw the difference in cleaner streets, parks and waters. Saving the planet is tough to attempt in an afternoon, but carrying your own grocery bag to the store is a simple way to start.
In that respect, any town considering a ban or charging a fee on plastic and paper bags has little to fear. By ordering
wholesale reusable shopping bags, you have an inexpensive solution that can be implemented in less than a week’s time. Store owners in L.A. who wanted to get out in front of the ban began ordering their own wholesale bags to promote their establishments. After all, people carry them around Southern California hundreds or thousands of times.
Business owners are right to see it as an opportunity to put their logo on the bags and make them the carryall of choice. It’s green, but it’s also good business. For more information about Holden Bags or for a quote please visit
www.holdenbags.com or contact at
800.255.0885.
