According to a recent article in The Huffington Post, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors UNANIMOUSLY expanded their plastic shopping bag ban to include all retail stores throughout this historic waterfront city. Previously, and as a result of a 2007 Board decision, single-use plastic shopping bags were only prohibited at large supermarkets and chain pharmacies. The new law affects all retailers effective this October.

The city's new law also requires that stores charge 10 cents for each paper bag they use, as the intended purpose of this legislation is to move shoppers away from paper and plastic and train consumers to bring reusable shopping bags to the stores. As with all laws, exceptions apply for dry cleaners, bulk food sales and restaurant "doggy bags."

San Francisco's newly expanded legislation was broadly supported by the business community, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the California Grocers Association and the Small Business Commission of San Francisco, as well as environmental groups.

As reported earlier, Southampton Village's SAVE Committee Co-Chair, Roger Blaugh, assisted members of the Rye, New York environmental advisory committee in the passage of their Reusable Shopping Bag Ordinance last December; the first in Westchester County. After Blaugh's testimony and the presentation of the local committee, Rye's governing body voted UNANIMOUSLY to pass the single-use shopping bag ban and institute the Reusable Shopping Bag Ordinance pioneered by the Village of Southampton in New York State earlier in the year.

In Darien, Connecticut, the city's environmental advisory committee in shaping an ordinance for their community with the input and assistance of Westport, Connecticut, Rye, NY and Roger Blaugh.

In local news, East Hampton Village went effective this week with it's Reusable Shopping Bag Ordinance, fashioned after the Southampton Village model, the first of its kind in New York State. East Hampton shoppers were already bringing their own bags to village stores in preparation for the changeover. Waldbaum's, East Hampton Village's only retail supermarket, was well prepared, offering assistance where necessary as well as reusable fabric and heavy duty reusable shopping bags at special prices. A&P owns Waldbaum's as well as Pathmark and The Food Emporium.

Southampton Town Business Advisory Committee Supports Bag Ban

The town's newly formed Business Advisory Committee voted in favor of banning single-use plastic bags across the Town of Southampton. However, no announcement has come forth from the Committee's Town Council Liaison Chris Nuzzi about plans to put the issue back onto the Town Council's agenda for further discussion and action. Earlier, it was the GOP-controlled Council who blocked the ban in favor of a "public education" program. However, it failed to provide a plan, schedule or funding for an education program. 

The Shopping Bag Ordinance was also supported by a majority of members of the Southampton Town Business Alliance. But their voice was largely ignored in the presentation given by the Business Alliance's hierarchy, which gave fodder to the subsequent GOP decision to table the legislation indefinitely. Meanwhile municipalities large and small across our nation, the Atlantic-coast communities in particular, move forward to protect their local environments.