Cities all over the State are expanding their plastic bag bans; not one is moving to repeal them. Bans work very well to reduce litter of plastic that persists in the environment for hundreds of years – shameful for a product which is usually used only for a 15 minute trip home from the store. If Santa Clara does not move forward on a plastic bag ban, the Water District may force Santa Clara to install up to 3,700 storm drain inlet capture devices at a cost of $630 each. Maintenance of those ICDs will be $50/month. That’s millions of dollars the City can ill afford. San Jose has very good studies that show bag usage going down by a factor of 10 and bag litter decreasing by a factor of 9. A bag ban is good for our pocket books — more so if you remember to bring your bags to the store.
