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California Enacts Ban On Single-Use Plastic Bags

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Now to California where a new law will ban single-use, plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores. It's the first state to do it, and plastic bag manufacturers are not happy. NPR's Sam Sanders reports.

SAM SANDERS, BYLINE: In Los Angeles, reaction to the news was a bit muted.

LUIS NAVARRO: They should have done it a long time ago.

JIM DOUGLAS: One small piece in a big picture.

ANDREA EVANGELISTA: Once you get used to it, it's no big deal.

SANDERS: That's Luis Navarro, Jim Douglas and Andrea Evangelista. They're all at Beethoven Market, a little corner store in West LA. The law won't actually change anything for them. The city of Los Angeles already has a ban on plastic bags at stores. So do more than 100 cities and counties in California. This new law though will make the rest of the state catch up. It'll roll out over the next two years, starting with big chains. Stores will be able to sell environmentally friendly bags for 10 cents. Cory Coombs, who was also in Beethoven Market, says the ban is really just a sign that California is finally catching up to other parts of the world.

CORY COOMBS: I'm from Barbados. We don't use plastic bags. (Laughter) We use actual bags.

SANDERS: Plastic bag manufacturers might challenge that definition of actual. They continue to push back against the new California law. Sam Sanders, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Sam worked at Vermont Public Radio from October 1978 to September 2017 in various capacities – almost always involving audio engineering. He excels at sound engineering for live performances.
Sam Sanders
Sam Sanders is a correspondent and host of It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders at NPR. In the show, Sanders engages with journalists, actors, musicians, and listeners to gain the kind of understanding about news and popular culture that can only be reached through conversation. The podcast releases two episodes each week: a "deep dive" interview on Tuesdays, as well as a Friday wrap of the week's news.

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