BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
The City of Signal Hill is giving away free, reusable cloth shopping bags. The goal of the program is to reduce the amount of plastic bags that end up on the landscape, in landfills and in the ocean.
Disposable plastic is literally choking the oceans of the world and poses a significant risk to marine life. Plastic bags, which constitute a major percentage of litter in the seas, are now considered by many to pose one of the most serious threats to the ecosystems of the earth.
Governments all over the world are enacting legislation or instituting programs to greatly reduce and eventually eliminate disposable plastic shopping bags from their respective economies. Recently, Signal Hill joined the ranks of local municipalities working toward providing alternatives to the plastic bag.
On April 22, the Signal Hill City Council adopted a resolution agreeing to join the Los Angeles County single-use bag reduction and recycling program, which county supervisors had approved in January.
The county program aims to reduce plastic bag litter by decreasing the use of plastic carryout bags, encouraging consumer recycling efforts and establishing a public education program to increase the use of reusable bags.
In addition, the program encourages the use of paper bags that are made with 40 percent recycled content.
“The program is a comprehensive strategy to reduce plastic bag litter through a partnership with supermarkets, retailers, environmental groups, the plastic bag industry, local government, and the public focused on reducing plastic bag usage over time while increasing the use of reusable bags,” said Sachi Hamai, county executive officer in a letter to Signal Hill officials.
In the letter, Hamai asked Signal Hill to help develop a countywide implementation strategy that will significantly reduce the environmental damage caused by plastic bags.
“Each year, approximately 6 billion plastic carryout bags are consumed in Los Angeles County, the equivalent of 600 bags per person per year,” said Jim Davis, Signal Hill’s interim director of public works. “Currently, less than five percent of bags are recycled and the rest end up (in landfills) or on our beaches, waterways, parks, and roads in the form of litter.”
Davis stressed that plastic bags make up 25 percent of the county litter problem bring significant blight to communities and negative impact to the environment.
“In Los Angeles County, local and state governments spend tens of millions of dollars each year on prevention, cleanup, and enforcement activities to reduce litter,” he said. “Communities throughout the state and around the world are searching for ways to reduce the impact of plastic bag litter.”
In addition to agreeing to participate in the county program, the city council directed the city attorney to work with the city manager, in consultation with the county, to prepare an ordinance providing for measures that might be necessary to implement the program in Signal Hill.
“It is the county’s desire to facilitate, to the extent possible, uniform requirements, fees, restrictions and outreach programs,” Davis noted. “This is to be accomplished by bringing together city representatives, industry representatives, and others who would work together in developing consistent recommendations for consideration by all cities.”
Meanwhile, the county is lobbying for state legislation to establish a statewide plastic bag fee with proceeds distributed to local governments on a per-capita basis to fund litter prevention and source reduction efforts.
The proposed state law would also authorize local government implementation of a “per bag” fee. Hamai noted that studies have shown that fees effectively reduce plastic bag usage.
Several stores in the area are already giving five-cent discounts for each reusable bag used by their customers. The Signal Hill Public Works Department had purchased 250 reusable cloth bags to give to residents for free. The bags have been available at City Hall, but officials urge residents to call the Public Works Department first to make sure it still has bags available. The phone number is (562) 989-7351.
