Sacramento City Council Bans Plastic Bags

The Sacramento City Council has voted unanimously to ban plastic grocery bags and require a minimum ten-cent charge for reusable or paper bags.

The ordinance is similar  to a California  law signed last year by Governor Jerry Brown.

Opponents to the state law gathered enough voter signatures to put the ban on the November 2016 ballot.  

Political consultant and Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op board member Steve Maviglio is with the campaign to uphold the statewide ban. He says the ban won't affect his store.

"We've never had a single complaint that we don't have these bags and that's because we don't offer them. We make paper bags available to our shoppers and many of our shoppers already re-use reusable bags."

One woman, who would only identify herself as Lisa, says she doesn't like the thicker, "reusable" plastic bags.  

"I need plastic bags to take garbage out to the dumpster and carry my laundry to the laundromat. Cloth bags need water to wash and there's a drought. If not washed there's a bacterial buildup on those cloth bags."

If the statewide ban is upheld, Sacramento's ban will yield to the state law.

If the statewide ban fails, Sacramento's will remain.