Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Gives Away 200,000 Reusable Bags in September; Now it's Up to Shoppers to BYOB

Reusable Bags: News & Views

Thousands of shoppers in California, Nevada and Arizona have one less of an excuse than they did a month ago not to bring their own bag to the grocery store, which Tesco hopes is one of its 168 Fresh & Easy markets.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's neighborhood affairs director Roberto Munoz said today the fresh food and grocery chain handed out over 200,000 free reusable canvas carrier bags to customers last month, between September 15th and September 30th.

The reusable bag Fresh & Easy gave away to shoppers in September is its 99-cent reusable canvas bag (pictured top, left), which as we reported in this piece - December 7, 2008: Fresh & Easy Offers New Definition of 'Double Bagging;' Says Sales of Reusable Bags Has Doubled Since Introducing its 99-Cent Bag in October - the grocery chain introduced in October 2008.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market distributed coupons for the September 2010 free canvas bag promotion, which required a minimum purchase of $10 to get a free bag, via its direct mail advertising flyers, as well as on its website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, and through its 'Friends of Fresh & Easy' e-mail promotional mailer. The reusable bags were also handed out to customers at the fresh food and grocery chain's September 2010 new store grand opening celebrations in California.

800,000 free reusable bags so far

September's wasn't the first reusable bag giveaway Tesco's Fresh & Easy has held. It's offered free bag promotions, usually giving the bag away with a minimum $10 purchase, fairly regularly since introducing its 99-cent canvas bag in October 2008.

And, according to Munoz, the grocery chain has given away about 800,000 reusable shopping bags to shoppers since opening its first stores in November 2007.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market offers a variety of reusable bags in its 168 stores in Southern California and the Central Valley; metro Las Vegas, Nevada; and metro Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to the 99-cent canvas bag, there's also a reusable bag made out of organic canvas, which sells for $2.99, and a reusable canvas bottle bag, which retails for $1.99.

The grocer also offers an inexpensive reusable bag which it calls "bags for life." The bags are made out of a synthetic plastic-type material and sell for 20-cents each. Fresh & Easy offers to replace the bags free of charge when they wear out, hence the name. The 'bags for life" are popular in the United Kingdom, where Fresh & Easy's parent company Tesco is based.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy offers free single-use plastic carrier bags in its stores but doesn't offer free paper grocery sacks as an option, unlike virtually all of its competitors in California, Nevada and Arizona do.

Incentives: Paper, plastic or reusable

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is attempting to get as many customers as it can to BYOB - bring their own bags to the store - through offering a variety of reusable bag options at various price points, it's bag giveaways and promotions, and by other means.

For example, Munoz says Fresh & Easy is also encouraging the use of reusable bags in its stores by adding in-store reminder signage, merchandising reusable bags closer to the checkout stands and giving away magnets featuring messages that remind customers not to forget their reusable bags at home.

Reusable bag use remains low in the U.S.

Despite free bag giveaways like those conducted by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and numerous other U.S. grocers, which also offer reusable bags for 99-cents or a dollar, few consumers bring their own bags to the grocery store. Various studies estimate that a mere 5%-10% of Americans regularly bring their own bags with them when they go shopping.

In California, where Tesco has 107 of its 168 (soon to be 155. See:13 Closing Fresh & Easy Stores List) Fresh & Easy stores, promoters of legislation to ban single-use plastic carrier bags were dealt a blow this summer when a bill, AB 1998, designed to do just that, was defeated in the California State Senate. [See - August 31, 2010: Breaking Buzz: California's Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill Fails.]

Since the defeat of the statewide bill, which was supported by the California Grocers Association, the trade group for grocers doing business in the state, numerous California cities has dusted off plastic bag ban bills which they're now considering proposing. Various sources say four -to- five dozen California municipalities are currently considering single-use plastic carrier bag bans or laws that would charge a fee for the bags. [See - September 3, 2010: How the California Grocers Association and its Members Can Snatch Victory From the Jaws of the Defeat of California's Plastic Bag Ban.]

A few California cities, including San Francisco and Malibu, have had single-use plastic carrier bag ban laws in place for some time. Others, such as Oakland and Manhattan Beach, passed such laws but had them struck down in the courts, in lawsuits filed by the plastic bag industry.

In 2009, the first federal bill that would have placed a fee on single-use plastic carrier bags was killed in committee in the U.S. House of representatives before being able to get a vote on the House floor. [See- April 23, 2009: Virginia Congressman Jim Moran Introduces First-Ever Federal Single-Use Bag Fee Legislation Into U.S. House of Representatives on Earth Day 2009.

Putting the 'PR' in reusable bag use

Reusable bag promotional programs like Fresh & Easy's and those regularly conducted by other food and grocery retailers, along with public relations programs by non-profit groups and others to encourage greater use of reusable bags, are a good and positive thing - the more incentives the better - but until shoppers decide to take personal responsibility (PR) and bring their own bags to the store in greater numbers, not only will we not see much of a trend towards increased reusable bag use, we'll also continue to see state and local governments attempt to influence retailer and consumer behavior by proposing and passing various laws designed to eliminate single-use plastic bags, and in some cases paper bags, and to promote the use of reusable bags via legislation.

Reasonable people can differ on whether or not it's the place of government to tell consumers what kind of carrier bag they can get at the grocery store and to restrict the types of bags retailers can offer to shoppers.

But in the final analysis one thing is clear, as is the case with most forms of behavior change, increasing the use of reusable bags at the grocery store is in the hands of consumers. For example, you can be given a dozen free reusable carrier bags from our favorite grocer but you we don't bring them to the grocery store and use them, which is the case with many consumers, then the incentive is a moot point.

Regular incentives, which we encourage and congratulate grocers and others for promoting, will no doubt increase the use of reusable bags by shoppers, at least incrementally. But until consumers decide to change their collective behavior and BYOB, the percentage will remain low.

Reader Resources

[Fresh & Easy Buzz has written extensively about reusable grocery bags and the single-use bag topic and issue. For a selection of those stories click here, here and here. Use the "Older Posts, "Newer Posts" links at the bottom of the linked pages for additional pages and stories.]

What Happens in Vegas Ends Up in Fresh & Easy Buzz: Las Vegas Shopper Wins Kroger's 2010 Reusable Bag Design Contest

Food and grocery retail company Kroger Co. has named a grand prize winner, four finalists and five runner-up category winners in its 2010 reusable shopping bag design contest.

The grand prize winner in this years bag design contest is Jamie H., from Las Vegas, Nevada. The award winning design (pictured at the end of the story) is very minimalist in design, using black (on a white bag background) text only, with the exception of a small blue and green globe at the end of the text. You can view the grand prize bag here, along with all of the finalist and runner-up bags.

As the grand prize winner, Jamie H, who shops at Kroger's Smith's Food & Drug chain in Las Vegas, gets a $1,000 Kroger gift card. Additionally, the four finalists each receive a $250 Kroger gift card, and the five runners-up each get a $100 gift card.

Who says 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?' It's certainly not the case when it comes to Jamie H, or else Fresh & Easy Buzz wouldn't be telling the tale in our widely-read blog. And forget Vegas secrets: The grand prize-winning reusable bag is set to be sold in select Kroger Co.-owned chains and stores, including at the Smith's Food & Drug stores in Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the company.

Kroger Co. holds the chain-wide reusable bag design contest annually, and has been doing so for a number of years. The contest is part of the retailer's overall sustainability strategy and project. [See: www.kroger.com/green.]

This year, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which has 27 of its 159 small-format fresh food and grocery stores in Metro Las Vegas, Nevada (98 in California; 34 in Metro Phoenix, Arizona) followed Kroger's lead and held a reusable shopping bag design contest of its own. [Read our story on the winner: July 27, 2010: The Winner of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Reusable Bag Design Contest Is... Also see: June 17, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Picks Eight Finalists in its Reusable Bag Design Contest; Website Voting Through June 30 and April 19, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Joins Kroger Co. in Holding Earth Month-Earth Day Reusable Bag Design Contest.]

Kroger Co., which is the leading supermarket chain and the second-largest retailer of food and groceries in the U.S., after Walmart Stores, Inc., is examining its offering of single-use plastic carrier bags closely. For example, Kroger's Fred Meyer chain, which is headquartered in Oregon and has stores throughout the Pacific Northwest, the Inter-Mountain region and in Alaska, on August 1 eliminated single-use plastic carrier bags at 10 of its stores in Portland, Oregon as a test.

On July 28 of this year, the Portland City Council passed a single-use plastic carrier bag ban. The new city ordinance bans the use of plastic or non-recycled paper carrier bags at grocery stores and pharmacies and requires stores to charge a minimum 5 cent fee for each recycled paper or compostable plastic bag it gives out. Stores are also required to provide free reusable bags to seniors and low-income residents.

The city has put the law on hold pending the vote by the Oregon State Legislature on a similar statewide ban. Portland Mayor Sam Adams said when announcing the hold on the new law that if the statewide plastic bag ban bill doesn't pass, the city will enact its ban, which would become law in 2012.

Ironically, legislation almost identical to the passed City of Portland bag ban law, and Oregon statewide bill yet to be voted on, failed in California on August 31, as we reported - August 31, 2010: Breaking Buzz: California's Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill Fails. Also see: September 3, 2010: How the California Grocers Association and its Members Can Snatch Victory From the Jaws of the Defeat of California's Plastic Bag Ban.

Meanwhile, reusable bag design contests like those held by Kroger and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, serve to elevate the concept of using reuseable bags, along with injecting an element of excitement and shopper participation into the process.

Despite considerable education and publicity about reusable bags, and regular giveaways by grocers and others of free bags, the use of the bags remains very low in the U.S. Some studies say only 5% of grocery shoppers overall bring their own bags to the store.

Bottom line: Personal responsibility and initiative by consumers is key to solving the disposable bag issue and increasing the use of reusable bags.

Above: The grand prize winning bag design

Reader Resources:

[Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the reusable shopping bag, single-use plastic carrier bag and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.]

How the California Grocers Association and its Members Can Snatch Victory From the Jaws of the Defeat of California's Plastic Bag Ban

The Insider: Heard On the Street

Fresh & Easy Buzz was the first food and grocery retailing-oriented publication, and one of the first publications of any format what so ever, to report on the defeat of AB 1998, the single-use plastic carrier bag ban bill in California.

The blog published its report - August 31, 2010: Breaking Buzz: California's Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill Fails - minutes after the final vote was taken in the California State Senate. Fresh & Easy Buzz was able to beat all the others because it was monitoring the late night August 31 vote in real-time, via a live web-feed from a camera in the California State Senate Chambers.

'The Insider' loves it when a little blog can beat the big guys to the punch using a little pluck and a dose of ingenuity.

Having giving my props to Fresh & Easy Buzz, it's now time to move on.

in today's column I'm going to use a little pluck and ingenuity of my own and offer the California Grocers Association (CGA), its retailer-members, and its president, Ronald Fong, a suggestion, which if taken and implemented not only could allow the non-profit trade group - which represents about 500 food and grocery retail members operating over 6,000 food stores in California and Nevada, including Safeway Stores, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and numerous other chains and independents - to achieve the goals which led it to support AB 1998 in the first place, but also just might put an end to (or slow down) the state and local legislative debates (and enactments) over banning or charging a fee for single-use plastic carrier bags in the Golden State's grocery stores.

In other words, I'm suggesting the CGA might want to embrace its inner power as the trade association for nearly all of the major grocery chains in California and think and act outside the box when it comes to the single-use plastic carrier bag issue.

First a little background, which partly serves as the inspiration for this column and my suggestion to the grocer's association and its head, Ronald Fong.

On September 1, the day after the California State Senate voted against the plastic bag ban in a 21 (against) -to- 14 (in favor) vote shortly before Midnight on August 31, the CGA issued a press release with this title: "California Grocers Denounce Failure of Historic Compromise on Plastic Bag Ban." In the statement, Fong goes after the American Chemistry Council, which represents single-use plastic bag-makers and chemical companies like DuPont, Dow and others, with full guns blazing - one in each hand.

Below is the lead paragraph of the press release:

"The California Grocers Association today denounced the failure of the California State Senate to pass Assembly Bill 1998, a historic compromise between business and the environmental community that would have prohibited the distribution of single-use plastic bags at checkout while providing new incentives for consumers to bring their own reusable bags. The measure failed after a furious and unprecedented lobbying effort by the American Chemistry Council (ACC)."

In the paragraph above, CGA president Fong has both his guns fully-cocked. He fires those guns in the second paragraph below:

"It’s clear that the Senate felt pressure by the American Chemistry Council’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions; misinformation campaign and radio, television, and print ads designed to kill this historic compromise,” said Ronald Fong, President, California Grocers Association. “AB 1998 would have established a statewide standard designed to bring predictability to consumers and operational and competitive fairness to retailers. This bill would've been good for consumers, good for business and good for the environment and its defeat is a failure for Californians."

Pulling a third gun from his hip pocket, Fong fires away once again: "The ACC is the same chemical conglomerate that has fought every reasonable effort to prevent and rid our neighborhoods and waterways from plastic pollution. The ACC has a history of big spending in pursuit of stopping bag bans - most recently, they spent more than $1 million in the City of Seattle to thwart an effort to regulate single-use plastic carryout bags."

I have no argument with Ronald Fong's statement and quotes. The American Chemistry Council did essentially what he says it did in terms of killing AB 1998. The association spent truckloads of single-use plastic bags full of money on lobbying, media buys and donations to members of the California State Senate who it thought could be persuaded to vote against the bag ban bill.

But as Fong and the CGA know, that's what trade associations do, among other activities: They do whatever it takes to support or kill legislation based on what the members of the trade groups believe is in their best business interests. That's how the game is played. And nowhere is it played more aggressively than in Sacramento, which is something the CGA is well aware of, having been a legislative advocate for California's grocers since 1898. It's called hardball.

My point isn't to praise the American Chemistry Council's tactics. Rather it's to note those tactics are closer to what the legislative advocacy norm is in Sacramento (and elsewhere) instead of being the exception.

What's interesting though is that one trade group - the California Grocers Association (CGA) - is blasting another trade association - the American Chemistry Council, the members of which just happen to sell a product - single-use plastic carrier bags - to nearly every grocer in California (yes, CGA members).

To phrase it another way, a reading of CGA president Ronald Fong's statement in the September 1 press release strongly suggests the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has just ticked off the retailer-members of the CGA, which also happen to be the grocer-customers who spend millions of dollars a year as customers of the plastic bag-making companies which the ACC represents.

To paraphrase a famous quote: 'The American Chemistry Council my have won the war (AB 1998) but they certainly haven't won the battle.'

The fact is, the single-use plastic carrier bag-makers would be in a world of hurt if most, or even half, of the grocers in California decided to stop buying the thin plastic grocery bags from these companies, and therefore stopped offering the bags in their stores, either as a protest against the tactics CGA president Ronald Fong is outraged at or more importantly - and here's my suggestion - because the state's grocers, through the CGA, decide to enact a voluntary single-use plastic carrier bag ban led by its largest chain members - Kroger's Ralphs/Food 4 Less, Safeway Stores, Inc., Albertsons, Stater Bros., Save Mart, Costco, Raleys, Trader Joe's, Smart & Final and others, including Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which offers plastic carrier bags for free but no paper bags at all in its 98 California stores.

The chains mentioned above sell over 60% of all the food and grocery items purchased in California. If the CEO's of these chains (or even Ralphs/Food 4 Less, Safeway and a couple others only), through their trade association, the CGA, all agreed to stop offering single-use plastic carrier bags in their stores voluntarily, like CGA member Whole Foods Market did a couple years ago, and Sprouts Farmers Market did recently, and as some independents in California, like two-store United Markets in San Rafael, a CGA member, say they plan to do soon, every other grocer in the state would most likely follow their lead.

The suggestion in a nutshell

So here's my suggestion to the retailer-members of the California Grocers Association and the group's president Ronald Fong: You have the power to create what would essentially be a single-use plastic carrier bag ban in California, similar to AB 1998 if it had past, by virtue of the fact CGA members represent stores that sell the vast majority of food and groceries in the Golden State.

Start with Ralphs/Food 4 Less, Safeway, Stater Bros., Albertsons, Save Mart and Raleys, for example, and the dominoes (other grocers) will come falling down.

The CGA can propose its own plastic bag ban to its member-retailers, discuss it, even perhaps seek guarantees from the state legislature and Governor in return for enacting it, and if the retailer-members like it and can agree on it - and knowing the history of the CGA, I think if it were a priority, most members would all go along with it - CGA can make it happen without legislation and all the sausage-making and money-spending involved in campaigns like the just-ended battle over AB 1998.

Many California grocery chain CEO's and independent store owners are conservatives - and even libertarians. What's a better conservative or libertarian solution to the plastic carrier bag debate and battle than a voluntary one, without government intervention, enacted by the very retailers who use the bags? And since the CGA and its retailer-members (even some that disagreed with the legislation went along for the good of the industry) is on the record supporting a single-use plastic carrier bag ban, why not do it on your own? The positive press and publicity might be an added bonus?

And Ronald Fong, imagine the shock when your counterpart at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) hears the CGA plans to explore the creation of its own voluntary single-use plastic carrier bag ban - ouch!

What could it do about it?

Would the ACC lobby grocer-members? Perhaps. But it would be silly and likely futile. Would they run media advertisements encouraging consumers to tell their California grocer to 'Say no the voluntary retailer plastic bag ban?' Doubt it. But those ads would be funny to watch. Might the ACC launch its own voter initiative in which it asks California voters to vote against the choice by publicly-held and privately-owned food and grocery retailers in California to stop using plastic bags? Don't think that dog would hunt, including because of a little document called the constitution.

The 411 for the CGA is that it's got the power on the single-use plastic carrier bag issue, despite the defeat of AB 1998. CGA members are the plastic bag-makers' customers. Isn't the customer always right? Additionally, CGA members comprise stores representing the vast majority of all groceries sold in California. If you build it, they will come.

The details of my proposed California grocer-CGA-sponsored single-use plastic carrier bag ban are less important than the idea to do so and the blueprint which I've just offered to the retailer-members of the grocer's association and to CGA president Fong in my column.

'The Insider' doesn't have a dog in this fight. But based on its support of AB 1998 and the comments from president Fong in his August 31 statement, the California Grocers Association sure does. It has the equivalent of many packs of dogs in the single-use plastic carrier bag battle. In fact, grocers are the lead dogs when it comes to the thin plastic bags and their use.

Grocers have a history of thinking outside the box - selling groceries online via the web, outside of the physical box, is a good example of that ability. Now that AB 1998 has failed - and at least 75 California cities and counties are at various stages of enacting their own, individual single-use plastic carrier bag bans or fee schemes - it appears to me the stage is set for the CGA and its members to do some of that outside the box thinking, perhaps starting with a discussion of the self-ban program I've described.

It's really all about embracing their collective inner-power, which just happens to be one of the reasons for and objectives of trade associations.

Recent related stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

August 31, 2010: Breaking Buzz: California's Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill Fails

August 31, 2010: It's Down to the Wire in California State Senate For Possible First-in-the-Nation Statewide Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban

August 23, 2010: California's Battle to Ban the Plastic Bag Heats Up in Sacramento: Author of Legislation Says the Reports of its Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

August 20, 2010: Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill AB 1998 Could Be in Difficulty of Passing in the California State Senate

August 16, 2010: Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote

July 20, 2010: California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to VictoryJune 19, 2010: 'Paper or Plastic' Likely to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores

[Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.]

Recent columns by 'The Insider'

~August 22, 2010: Challenges & Opportunities: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Will Supply its Northern CA Stores From its Riverside County DC in Southern CA

~July 18, 2010: When it Comes to Northern California - its Competitors are Rome Burning and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is Nero Playing the Fiddle

~July 13, 2010: A Few Words on The Life and Death of Veteran Southern California Grocer Roger K. Hughes

~June 27, 2010: The Insider: Will Tesco Acquire Supervalu, Inc. and Change its 'Fresh & Easy' Game in America?

~June 12, 2010: Will Phil Clarke Shake Things up at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA When He Becomes Tesco CEO in 2011?

~May 20, 2010: Welcome to Discountopia USA

~April 29, 2010: Heard on the Street: There's Something About Albertsons ... In Southern California

Breaking Buzz: California's Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill Fails

Going Real-Time

It will continue to be 'paper or plastic' in California's grocery stores

AB 1998, the state legislative bill that would have banned single-use plastic carrier bags in California's grocery stores, retail stores over 10,000 square-feet with pharmacies (in 2012), and convenience stores (in 2013), has failed in the California State Senate.

The vote was 21 members against and 14 in favor of the bill.

The final vote against the plastic bag ban came about 25 minutes before 12 am, which is when the California State Senate is set to adjourn its current legislative session.

As a result of the bill's defeat, California grocery stores will be able to continue to offer single-use plastic carrier bags in their stores, along with paper grocery sacks, accept in city's like San Francisco which have municipal bans against the thin plastic carrier bags.

Failure means more local bag bans

Fresh & Easy Buzz predicts the failure of AB 1998 to pass will open up the floodgates for city and county governments in California to enact single-use plastic carrier bag ban laws.

For example, the city of Santa Monica in Southern California plans to go forward with its proposed plastic bag ban legislation, which it put on hold pending tonight's vote in the California State Senate, a spokesperson for the city told us earlier this week.

Additionally, Los Angeles County, which also put its bag fee or ban legislation on hold pending the vote tonight, also plans to go forward with the bill now that the statewide single-use plastic bag ban bill has failed.

Manhattan Beach, California, which has been in court over its plastic bag ban law for a couple years now, said this week it will continue to fight in court against the American Chemistry Council, which sued the city in 2009 over the law, to enact the law if AB 1998 fails, as it has.

Other California cities considering single-use plastic bag ban laws but put them on hold pending the vote on AB 1998 include Berkeley and Davis, in Northern California, and Los Angeles in the southland, among others.

The California Grocers Association (CGA) supported AB 1998 for just this reason - in order to prevent a patchwork quilt of local bag ban and bag fee laws from occurring.

Ironically, we think the publicity generated by the fight over AB 1998 by supporters and opponents, led by the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastic bag-makers and other companies in the chemical industry, is actually going to serve as a catalyst for cities and counties, many who not only wouldn't have proposed or passed local bans had AB 1998 passed, but also might not have done so at all were it not for the huge amount of attention the legislation has received over the last few months in California.

For the state's grocers, and its trade association, the CGA, this means they will have to decide - and if they decide in the affirmative will have to spend significant time and money - which of the numerous local single-use plastic bag ban (or bag fee) pieces of legislation they will fight, or if they will fight any of them.

Meanwhile, the failure of AB 1998 to pass tonight, despite a number of amendments made to the bill at the last minute in an attempt to gain passage, likely means the appetite in the state legislature to propose and push a similar statewide bill next year is going to be minimal.

We will be offering further analysis on the issue, including the impact of the legislation's failure to pass on Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, in an upcoming piece.

See the related stories below for details and perspective:

August 31, 2010: It's Down to the Wire in California State Senate For Possible First-in-the-Nation Statewide Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban

August 23, 2010: California's Battle to Ban the Plastic Bag Heats Up in Sacramento: Author of Legislation Says the Reports of its Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

August 20, 2010: Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill AB 1998 Could Be in Difficulty of Passing in the California State Senate

August 16, 2010: Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote

July 20, 2010: California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to Victory

June 19, 2010: 'Paper or Plastic' Likely to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores

[Readers: Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.]

California's Battle to Ban the Plastic Bag Heats Up in Sacramento: Author of Legislation Says the Reports of its Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

Bagging Single-Use Plastic Bags in the 'Nation State' of California: News/Analysis/Commentary

AB 1998, the California legislative bill that would ban single-use plastic carrier bags in the Golden State's grocery stores, retail stores over 10,000 square-feet with pharmacies and convenience stores (in 2013), is alive and well in the California State Senate Rules Committee - and opponents of the bill led by the American Chemistry Council shouldn't pop their champagne corks in celebration just yet, says Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, the author of the legislation.

Read our August 20, 2010 story: Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill AB 1998 Could Be in Difficulty of Passing in the California State Senate.

Making the rounds in her Southern California district over the weekend, which included a stop on Saturday at a University of California, Los Angeles film festival where "Plastic Bag," a short film by director Ramin Bahrani was shown, Assemblywoman Brownley said that although the Senate Appropriations Committee didn't vote out the bill by its required August 13 deadline, and as a result sent the legislation over to the Senate Rules Committee, it did so for a specific reason. California legislative rules require that if the Appropriations Committee fails to pass a bill by its deadline, August 13 in the case of AB 1999, such bills can't be amended over the following 10 days, which is when the legislative session ends for the year, on August 31.

However, by giving control of the bill to the Senate Rules Committee, which is exempt from the no amendments rule, AB 1998 is not subject to the restriction and can be debated and amended between now and August 31. As such, AB 1998 has sort of a protected status, according to Brownley.

This is important because Brownley and other supports of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation believe that with some minor amendments the bill can pass in the full State Senate. It must be voted on before the end of business on August 31, when the legislative session ends, however.

In other words, the bill's author says it's still alive, despite arguments to the contrary by those against the bag ban legislation.

Brownley says she had numerous meetings last week with Senate leaders to discuss amendments to AB 1998 that deal with the issues opponents are most concerned with, such as whether grocers will be able to keep the money they charge for paper bags, or whether any amount they charge above their costs will be directed to state recycling programs rather than being kept by the retailers as profits.

AB 1998 allows grocers to sell paper grocery bags to customers for a minimum of five cents each. Large paper carrier bags generally cost grocers slightly more than five cents each.

The American Chemistry Council, which among other activities is a trade group for single-use plastic carrier bag manufacturers, and a coalition of opponents of the bag ban bill, which are going by the name Stop the Bag Police, argue that "the fees collected from paper bags would be pocketed by grocers and would not fund the infrastructure required by the bill. The passage of AB 1998 would result in the elimination of hundreds of California-based plastic bag manufacturing jobs and would dismantle a young but growing plastic bag recycling infrastructure," the coalition said in a statement recently.

For those who have a fundamental understanding of California grocery retailing, the notion that grocers are going to use sales of the paper grocery bags as a profit center is hard to fathom. Most likely, grocers will sell the bags for cost or a few cents over their cost. We predict it will be no more than 10 -to- fifteen cents a bag. Many grocers might even start out selling the bags for the five cents each, the minimum charge required in AB 1998.

Additionally, we suspect nearly all grocery chains and independents will sell the paper bags for the same price, or close to it, once it's established in the market. Safeway, Kroger and Walmart will essentially set the price as the biggest retailers and market share leaders in California.

We also suspect paper bag manufactures will raise the cost of the bags to California grocers if the legislation is passed because they will see a guaranteed market in California. Grocers will likely pass any cost increases on to shoppers. However, the last thing California grocers want to do is be accused of profiting from the sale of paper bags. The public relations damage from it would far exceed any minimal profit they might make.

The purpose of the minimum five cent charge for the paper bags is to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags. In fact, many supporters argue that five cents isn't enough. Rather, they say that a fifteen cent or more per-bag charge is probably required in order to economically motivate shoppers to bring their own bags to the store.

California grocers are already required by law to sell reusable grocery bags in their stores. AB 1998 maintains that requirement.

Grocers will still be allowed to use the types of plastic bags they currently use in-store for meat, produce, bulk foods and other items under a food safety provision in the bill.

So here's the scoop, according to Brownley: This week the Senate Rules Committee should propose some minor amendments to AB 1998 dealing with the key issues noted above. She hopes those changes will gain the support of those holdouts in the Senate. Those amendments can be changed and fine tuned until August 31, when the bill must be voted on. If supporters don't think they have enough votes, they can pull the bill from a full Senate vote and bring it back next year, although if they do that it will have to go before all of the State Assembly and Senate committees all over again. AB 1998 passed the full California State Assembly in June.

Meanwhile, both supporters and opponents are lobbying Senators hard and fast. Both groups are also using free and paid media and social networking sites to get their respective messages out to California voters, who they then hope will call and e-mail their State Senators telling the legislators how they want them to vote on the single-use plastic bag ban bill.

Last week the American Chemistry Council went big in lobbying the State Senate against AB 1998. The group also launched a video of its own, titled "Trouble."

The video is in part a response to a short film, "The Majestic Bag," narrated by actor Jeremy Irons, and put out by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica, California-based environmental group which is one of the major supporters of AB 1998, as we reported in this piece last week - August 16, 2010 Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote.

The California Grocers Association (CGA) supports AB 1998, as we've previously reported. The CGA, which was founded in 1898, is a non-profit, statewide trade association representing approximately 500 retail members operating over 6,000 food and grocery stores in California and Nevada, and approximately 300 grocery supplier companies. Retail membership includes chain and independent supermarkets, convenience stores and mass merchandisers. Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is a CGA member, as is Safeway Stores, Inc. and most of the state's major chains and independents.

If passed, AB 1998 would prevent California cities and counties, accept San Francisco which already bans single-use plastic carrier bags, from enacting local laws regarding the plastic shopping bags. This provision is the main reason the CGA and its member-grocers is supporting the legislation. It wants a single-statewide law on plastic carrier bag use rather than the patchwork of local laws that currently exists.

It's estimated that about 19 million single-use plastic carrier bags are distributed in California retail stores each year. Just 5% of those bags are recycled, according to the state. If AB 1998 passes in the Senate, the Governor says he will sign it. If that happens, California will be the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic carrier bags at grocery and related retail stores.

Numerous environmental groups and coalitions also support AB 1998. These include Heal the Bay, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Californians Against Waste, Surf Santa Monica, and numerous others.

The California Legislature is going on being 60 days late without having passed a state budget. But starting today, along with more budget talks, the battle of the plastic bag will be front and center at the State Capital in Sacramento. Will the plastic bag ban pass? Or will its opponents succeed in bagging the bag ban? Stay tuned.

Related Stories:

August 20, 2010: Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill AB 1998 Could Be in Difficulty of Passing in the California State Senate

August 16, 2010: Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote

July 20, 2010: California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to Victory.

June 19, 2010: 'Paper or Plastic' Likely to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores

[Readers: Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.]

Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Bill AB 1998 Could Be in Difficulty of Passing in the California State Senate

Breaking Buzz

California's AB 1998, the legislative bill that would ban single-use plastic carrier bags in the Golden State's grocery markets, retail stores over 10,000 square-feet with pharmacies and (in 2013) convenience stores, could be in trouble in the State Senate.

AB 1998 allows grocers and the other retailers to offer shoppers paper grocery bags at a cost of at least five cents each. Grocers in California are already required to offer reusable shopping bags for sale in their stores. AB 1998 maintains that requirement.

In this story on August 16, we reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee had voted on AB 1998. That's incorrect. The committee failed to reach a vote on the bill by its reporting deadline of August 13, so the chairman referred AB 1998 to the Senate Rules Committee. As of today, the bill is pending in the Rules Committee.

The full California State Senate must vote on AB 1998 by August 31, when the legislative body adjourns. And because the bill wasn't approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, it now must receive a yes vote by two-thirds of the State Senators in order to pass. Previously all that was needed for the legislation to pass was a simple majority.

As we've reported previously, the bill to ban the single-use plastic carrier bags has the support of a majority of the members of the California State Senate. However, now that the vote will require a two-thirds majority rather than a simple majority, what previously was considered an easy victory for AB 1998 is now in question.

California Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the bill if it is passed by the California State Senate. AB 1998 has already been passed by the California State Assembly.

Opponents of the bag ban, who've been relatively inactive of late compared to the bill's supporters, today seized on the change in the legislative process in the Senate, which now requires the two-thirds majority vote in order for the plastic bag ban legislation to pass and go to the Governor for his signature.

The main opposition group, which calls itself Stop the Bag Police [http://www.stopthebagpolice.com/] today said: "Opposition to AB 1998, the so-called 'bag ban bill,' is growing rapidly across the state. Hundreds of businesses, many of them small grocers and retailers, have joined forces with manufacturing associations, chambers of commerce and plastic bag makers statewide to send a clear message to Sacramento: start focusing on the real problems facing Californians."

The coalition's main argument against the single-use plastic bag ban is summed up in this statement from the group's spokesperson: "In its current iteration, AB 1998 would prohibit large grocers, drug stores, food marts and convenience stores from providing their customers free plastic bags and require a minimum five-cent fee on paper bags. The Senate Appropriations Committee determined that AB 1998 would require $2 million in new state costs to fund a new 'bag police' bureaucracy. The fees collected from paper bags would be pocketed by grocers and would not fund the infrastructure required by the bill. The passage of AB 1998 would result in the elimination of hundreds of California-based plastic bag manufacturing jobs and would dismantle a young but growing plastic bag recycling infrastructure."

Stop the Bag Police says it currently has nearly 500 businesses and organizations that oppose AB 1998.

Among those opposed to the legislation include independent grocers like Northern California-based Fiesta Foods and Food Fair Market, the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Long Beach, California Black Chamber of Commerce, the American Chemistry Council and others. You can view a full list of the businesses and organizations opposed to AB 1998 at [http://www.stopthebagpolice.com/.]

The American Chemistry Council which among other activities represents the manufacturers of single-use plastic carrier bags, is heading up the opposition to the bill.

Key to the single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation's passing is meeting the August 31 deadline for a (now two-thirds) vote by the full California State Senate. If the bill isn't voted on by August 31, it goes away for this legislative session, which ends on August 31, and must be reintroduced all over again in next year's session.

Both meeting that deadline and obtaining the two-thirds majority vote now required to pass AB 1998 is no longer that "sure thing" for supporters of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation, which includes the California Grocers Association, (CGA) the trade organization for California's chain and independent grocers.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which is a member of the CGA, is in favor of AB 1998 by virtue of its membership in the trade group, even though the grocer offers only free single-use plastic carrier bags and no paper bag offerings in its 159 fresh food and grocery stores, 98 units of which are located in California. Fresh & Easy offers a variety of reusable bags in its stores, ranging from an inexpensive clear synthetic bag it calls a 'bag for life,' which sells for 20 cents each, to various varieties of cloth and canvas bags, with a starting price of one dollar.

The California State Senate's legislative clock is ticking for both the supporters and opponents of the single-use plastic bag ban bill.

Related Stories:

August 16, 2010: Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote

July 20, 2010: California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to Victory.

June 19, 2010: 'Paper or Plastic' Likeley to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores

[Readers: Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.]

Supporters of California's First-in-the-Nation Single-Use Plastic Bag Ban Going Humorous to Win on the Eve of State Senate Vote

Bagging Single-Use Plastic Bags in the 'Nation State' of California: News/Analysis/Commentary

We last reported on and wrote about AB 1998, the California legislation that if passed would ban single-use plastic carrier bags from being used in the Golden State's grocery stores, retail stores over 10,000 square-feet that have pharmacies, and eventually convenience stores (in 2013), in this July 20, 2010 piece: California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to Victory.

In addition to banning single-use plastic carrier bags, the legislation requires grocers and the other retailers to sell paper grocery sacks for a minimum of five cents each, which is designed to encourage reusable bag use by shoppers. California law already requires grocers to offer reusable shopping bags for sale in-store. AB 1098 maintains that requirement.

Since our July 20 story, the bill, which passed the California State Assembly and was then sent to the State Senate, has passed in the final key Senate Committee - Appropriations - and is awaiting a floor vote by the full California State Senate. That vote will take place before the end of August, according to our sources.

Passage in the California State Senate is the last leg of the legislative journey for AB 1098. And California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he will sign the bill if it's passed by the Senate.

At present, political odds-makers in Sacramento tell us the bill currently has majority support for passage in the State Senate.

However, supporters of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban in California, which would be the first state in the nation to enact such a law, aren't letting that majority support for the bill stop them from launching an all out campaign to win on the eve of the floor vote by the Golden State's majority Democratic State Senate.

In fact, some of the last minute pro-AB 1098 campaigning is down right humorous - but by design.

For example, one of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation's supporters, the environmental watchdog organization Heal the Bay, today released a short film it calls a "mockumentary," designed to promote passage of AB 1998. The short film, which is narrated by Academy-Award winning actor Jeremy Irons, charts the "lifecycle" of a plastic bag to promote awareness of plastic pollution in California and beyond, according to the environmental group.

The "mockumentary," titled "The Majestic Plastic Bag," is filmed in the style of a Nature Channel documentary program and tracks the "migration" of a plastic bag from a grocery store parking lot to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in the Pacific Ocean.

Though lighthearted in tone, the short film hammers home the stark reality of California's plastic bag pollution situation: 19 billion bags are used every year, creating over 123,000 tons of unnecessary waste, costing taxpayers $25 million in cleanup costs a year, says Heal the Bay President Mark Gold. "Less than five percent of all single-use plastic bags are recycled, with many ending up as litter and in the ocean as plastic pollution," Gold says. Gold, explaining the philosophy behind using humor to make a serious environmental point in support of the single-use plastic bag ban.

"Rather than lecturing the audience, we wanted to create a film that would capture people's attention with humor," Gold says. "At the same time, we saw this as subversive way to make viewers realize the serious, far-reaching problem of single-use plastic bag pollution."

The "mockumentary," which was shot on location throughout Los Angeles, was developed by director Jeremy Konner of Southern California's Partizan Pictures, along with the the advertising agency DDB LA. The film had "little to no budget" and was created solely with donated time, Heal the Bay's Gold says.

Heal the Bay won't be getting any protests about the short film from California's grocers, since the industry supports the plastic bag ban bill through its trade organization, the California Grocers Association.

The 'Bag Monster'

Heal the Bay's short film comes on the heals of another humorous campaign in favor of AB 1098, which was held on August 12 at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco.

The star of that pro-single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation event was the "Bag Monster," otherwise known as Andy Keller, the inventor of the popular Chico Bag reusable shopping bag. Actually the "Bag Monster" is a costume made out of 500 single-use plastic carrier bags which Keller created to wear as a way to demonstrate the impact the plastic bags have on the environment. It's estimated each shopper in the U.S. on average uses 500 plastic carrier bags each year.

Keller now has numerous volunteers who wear the the "Bag Monster" costumes at special events, like the one on August 12 at Ghiradelli Square, which was a rally in support of AB 1098.

Keller and a bunch of other "Bag Monsters" staged what they called a "100 Bag Monster March" through the popular San Francisco shopping venue on August 12 in support of California's single-use plastic carrier bag ban.



In addition to the March, the event featured a press conference by Keller and supporters, as the video below details.



Press Conference: Part 2



It's not over until it's over though

In contrast to these and other activities from the various pro-single-use plastic carrier bag ban groups on the eve of the California State Senate's vote, those against the ban, including the plastic carrier bag industry trade association, are doing very little overt campaigning against the legislation.

Instead, opponents have been focusing most of their efforts on lobbying legislators. However, with such widespread support for the legislation, including from the California Grocers Association, the single-use plastic carrier bag industry appears, based on its low-level of campaign activity and even direct lobbying, to be seeing the writing on the wall that the bill will pass, and as he has said he will do, signed by the Governor.

But we doubt that will be the end of the story. Instead, it's likely the single-use plastic bag industry is saving its efforts - and cash - to fight the plastic bag ban once it is passed and signed into law by the Governor, something the industry has been successful at doing against bans in California cities such as Oakland and others. Stay tuned.

[Readers: Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and commentary on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read.]

California's First-in-the-Nation Plastic Carrier Bag Ban Legislation Looks to Be On its Way to Victory

Bagging Single-Use Plastic Bags in the 'Nation State' of California: News/Analysis/Commentary

California Assembly Bill 1998, which would ban single-use plastic carrier bags from being used in the Golden State's grocery and drug stores, appears on the road to becoming law.

Assembly Bill 1998 (The Single-Use Bag Reduction Act), authored by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, a Democrat from Santa Monica, passed on June 1 in the California State Assembly, by a 41-27 margin.

[Read - Fresh & Easy Buzz - June 19, 2010: 'Paper or Plastic' Likeley to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores]

After passing in the State Assembly, the bill went over to the California State Senate Environmental Quality Committee, which recently approved the legislation in a 5-2 vote.

The bill is now in the California State Senate Appropriations Committee, where it's set to be voted on by August 14.

If the bill passes in Appropriations - which more than likely will be the case - the legislation then goes to the full California State Senate for a vote. In order to meet the legislative deadline, the bill must be voted on and passed by August 31, 2010.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he intends to sign AB 1998 if passed and sent to him.

The legislation bans single-use plastic carrier bags at grocery and drug stores in California. The single-use plastic bag ban would be phased in over two years, starting with supermarkets and any other format store over 10,000 square-feet containing pharmacies. Convenience stores would have until July 1, 2013 to comply with the law.

The bill also allows grocery and drug stores to offer paper grocery bags to shoppers, which the retailers would have to sell to customers for a minimum of five cents per bag. California grocers are already required by law to offer reusable shopping bags in their stores.

As we outlined in our June 19 story, the legislation is supported by the California Grocers Association (CGA), the state's trade association, which represents chain and independent grocers with stores in the Golden State.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is a CGA member, and therefore supports the legislation banning single-use plastic bags, as does Safeway Stores, Inc., Save Mart Supermarkets, WinCo Foods, the Rite Aid drug chain and numerous other food and drug retailers, many which are listed below.

Below is a listening of some of the key supporters and opponents of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban legislation.

Supporters:

California Grocers Association
Californians Against Waste
Heal the Bay
1 Bag at a Time Inc
AFSCME
Amerigreenbag.com
Association of Communities United of South Los Angeles
Ballona Creek Renaissance
Bay Area Council
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Coastal Coalition
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California League of Conservation Voters
California State Lands Commission
Chico Bag
City of Burbank
City of Del Mar
City of Long Beach
City of Newport Beach
City of Pasadena
City of San Buenaventura
City of San Clemente
City of Solana Beach
City of Ventura
Clean South Bay
Clean Water Action California
Defenders of Wildlife
Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association
Duro Bag Manufacturing Company
Earth Resource Foundation
Earthwise Bag Company
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Environment California
Envirosax
ForestEthics
Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market Inc.
Friends of Five Creeks
Global Green USA
Green Sangha
Humboldt Coastkeepers
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County Solid Waste Management Committee/ Integrated Waste Management Task Force
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Monterey Regional Waste Management District
Natural Resources Defense Council
Neighborhood Market Association
Northcoast Environmental Center
OCEANAOrange County Coastkeeper
Ormond Beach Observers
Planning and Conservation League
Plastic Pollution Coalition
PW Supermarkets Inc. (San Jose)
Rainforest Action Network
Rite Aid
San Diego Coastkeeper
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission
Santa Monica Baykeeper
Save Mart Supermarkets
Seventh Generation Advisors
Sierra Club of California
Solid Waste Solutions Inc
StopWaste.org – Alameda County Waste Management Authority
Steven Bochco Productions
Super A Food Inc. (Commerce)
Surfers’ Environmental Alliance
Surfrider Foundation
State Lands Commission
Urban Semillas
Washington Elementary PTA
Western States Council of the United Food & Commercial Workers
WiLDCOAST
Wild Heritage Planners
WinCo Foods Inc.
Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists
Youth Opportunities for High School and Associations of Communities United of South Los Angeles

Opposition:

American Chemistry Council
American Forest & Paper Association
Biodegradable Products Institute
Bradley Packaging Systems
California Film Extruders & Converters Association
California Forestry Association
Californians for Extended Producer Responsibility
Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Command Packaging
Corona Chamber of Commerce
Crown Poly Inc
Great American Packaging
Heritage Bag
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Metabolix
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce

If the legislation passes - all current indications are that it will and the Governor has said he will sign it into law - California will be the first state in the U.S. to impose a ban on single-use plastic carrier bags at grocery and drug stores.

The law also will preempt all city and county bag ban laws in the state, accept San Francisco's, which has an exemption in the legislation.

But once passed and signed by the Governor, California's single-use plastic bag ban law could find itself spending years in the courts.

The single-use plastic carrier bag industry, through its trade association, has been successful in getting municipal bag ban laws in California cities like Oakland and Manhattan Beach struck down by the courts.

Many observers believe the single-use plastic carrier bag industry will file suit against the California law not long after it's signed by the Governor. One key reason it could do so is because the California law would be the first such statewide ban in the U.S., and likely will serve as a model that other states will follow. This is something the single-use plastic carrier bag industry wants to avoid - the establishment of the first statewide ban.

On the other hand, since California's grocery and drug retailers are in favor of the ban, the single-use plastic carrier bag industry would find itself in a strange position if it does file suit. In doing so, it would essentially be fighting to keep the use of plastic carrier bags legal in California grocery and drug stores, even though the primary users of the bags - the grocers and drug chains which operate those stores - are in favor of banning the bags.

California's grocers are in favor of the legislation because they want one single, uniform statewide law, rather than a patchwork of municipal and county single-use plastic carrier bag laws, whcih require the retailers to do one thing in city A and another in City B. For example, Safeway can't offer single-use plastic carrier bags at its stores in San Francisco. However, it can offer them at its store in South San Francisco (it's own municipality) which is literally next door to San Francisco. The same with other grocery chains and multi-store independents.

Therefore, if the single-use plastic carrier bag industry does file suit against the California law (assuming it passes of course), we suspect the California Grocers Association will join the State of California in arguing to uphold the law, thereby pitting the plastic bag industry against the grocers, sonething it should think twice about doing, since many of the chains like Safeway Stores are major customers for single-use plastic carrier bags for company-owned chains and stores outside of California.

Reader Resources:

>Ronald Fong, president and CEO of the California Grocers Association, authored an opinion piece in Sunday's (July 18) Sacramento Bee, in which he describes why the state's grocers are in favor of the single-use plastic bag ban legislation. You can read his Op Ed here. Look to the write of Fong's Op Ed. There are two other opinion pieces offering different perspectives.

>Also on Sunday, July 18, Kroger Co.'s Fred Meyer food and general merchandise chain, which has 130 stores located in the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain regions in the Western U.S., announced it would stop offering single-use plastic carrier bags in its 10 stores in Portland, Oregon. beginning on August 1, 2010.

Oregon is considering bag ban legislation similar to California's. Fred Meyer has decided to get out in front of the pending legislation by doing a unique test - which you can read about here - at its 10 stores in Portland.

>Fresh & Easy Buzz has been reporting on, writing about, and offering analysis and opinion on the single-use plastic carrier bag, reusable bag, and related topics and issues since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read a selection of those posts.

'Paper or Plastic' Likley to Be Replaced By 'Reusable or Paper' (For a Fee) in California Grocery Stores

Bagging Single-Use Plastic Bags in the 'Nation State' of California: News/Analysis/Commentary

After various failed attempts over the last few years to require grocers to charge for or stop offering single-use plastic carrier bags [see here and here, for example], it looks like California will soon pass a law banning the Golden State's grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor and convenience stores from providing the free thin plastic bags to customers.

Assembly Bill 1998, authored by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley who is a Democrat from Santa Monica, passed on June 1 in the State Assembly, by 41-27 margin.

The bill bans the distribution of all single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, drug stores, convenience stores and liquor stores in California. Mass merchandisers like Walmart and Target, and department stores, can still offer the plastic bags to shoppers, however, under the existing bill as passed in the Assembly on June 1.

The bill's background summary says California spends $25 million annually to pick up and dispose of single-use plastic carrier bags.

The plastic bag-ban bill has been sent to the California State Senate, where it's expected to pass either as is or with only a minor amendment or two.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who in the past has opposed similar bills, supports the plastic bag-ban legislation and has said he will sign it if and when it's passed in the State Senate, which could happen as soon as early July.

A hearing on the bill is set for June 28 in the State Senate's Environmental Quality Committee. Once passed out of committee, it will be voted on by the whole body of the Senate. [You can view the full history to date of AB 1998 here.]

The legislation wouldn't be on track to be passed and signed by the Governor though were it not for some shrewd political horse-trading and deal-making by Assemblywoman Brownley, other plastic bag-ban supporters and the California Grocers Association (CGA), the trade organization that represents 500 food and grocery retailing companies that operate about 8,000 stores in California.

AB 1998 originally banned both single-use and paper grocery bags, leaving just reusable bags as the only option grocers could offer customers. Many California grocers, particularly the big chains like Safeway and other key CGA retailer-members, didn't like the full plastic and paper ban but liked a provision of the law that might end what has been going on for years in California, which is city-by-city piecemeal legislation, in some cases banning (or proposing to ban) single-use plastic carrier bags completely, or enacting a per-bag fee on both paper and plastic. The provision the CGA likes is one that allows the state law to supersede any and all county or municipal bag-ban or fee laws currently on the books, as well as any future legislation that differs from it.

As a result of this potentially mutual ground, the grocer's association and Assemblywoman Brownley started talking a couple months ago.

Brownley, who failed to get a bag-fee bill passed last year [April 16, 2009 Two New Bills in California State Assembly Would Put 25-Cent Per Bag Fee on Both Single-Use Plastic and Paper Carrier Bags], and her supporters saw getting the CGA's support for the legislation as a game-changer, as did the Governor, who signaled he would support the bag-ban bill if it was backed by the state's grocers via their trade association.

The CGA also knew that the bag-ban bill, with a ban on both single-use plastic bags and paper bags, could pass even if they opposed it, which they weren't looking forward to doing considering the huge sums of money such lobbying efforts cost in Sacramento these days. The trade group also saw it as an opportunity to deal with and possibly put an end to what's been a highly-contentious issue for years between grocers, many members of the Democratic majority in the State Assembly and Senate and environmental groups: The banning or charging for single-use plastic and paper carrier bags.

Brownley and bag-ban supporters - fellow legislators, environmental groups, the UFCW retail clerks union and others - cut a deal with the GGA that went something like this: In return for amending the bill so that it would allow grocers to sell paper grocery sacks made of at least 40% post-recycled paper to shoppers for a fee of not less than five cents per bag, the grocers' association would support the bill, thereby making it as much a California food and grocery retailing industry piece of legislation as it was an environmental group bill. Key also was maintaining the provision in which state law supersedes any local bag-ban laws. [Note: We suggested this - the statewide uniformity - would be a good move for the CGA in this piece last year.]

The California Grocers Association and Assemblywoman Brownley discussed and agreed on terms; the trade association backed the bill; and the Governor got on board. The CGA's support also resulted in the California Chamber of Commerce deciding not to oppose the legislation, which they had planned to do prior to the grocery group's support of it. All this is key to why, to a person, every analyst of California politics says the bill will become law.

"There have been a number of different proposals and different cities have approached this in different ways," says Dave Heylen, the spokesman for the California Grocers Association, which is based in Sacramento.

"This bill would impact supermarkets, chain pharmacies, local neighborhood markets, convenience stores and liquor stores, so it provides a uniform statewide standard to help level the playing field among food retailers. A ban on single-use, carry-out bags brings the most environmental gain with the least competitive disruption for retailers," Heylen says in describing why the grocers' association supports the bill to ban single-use plastic carrier bags.

Currently four California cities - San Francisco, Fairfax, Palo Alto and Malibu - have single-use plastic bag-ban laws on the books. Two other cities, Oakland and Manhattan Beach, passed bans but haven't been able to implement the laws because of challenges in court. Numerous other California cities, and a couple counties, have proposals to either ban or charge a fee on single-use plastic carrier bags, and in some cases paper bags, in various stages of debate by local lawmakers.

But not so fast perhaps: We expect the single-use plastic carrier bag trade association, which has successfully stopped the laws in Oakland and Manhattan Beach from being enacted, to challenge the California law in the courts, starting with asking a judge for an injunction against its being implemented while the law's being argued in court. We anticipate the trade group will do this soon after the bill is signed into law by the Governor if it plans to challenge the single-use plastic bag-ban law. If this happens the law could be held up for a couple years before it works its way through the courts.

According to the State of California, 19 million single-use bags are used in the Golden State annually. The goal of the legislation isn't to replace plastic bags with paper. Rather, it's to increase the use of reusable shopping bags by consumers who shop in the state's grocery, drug, convenience and liquor stores.

By law, all grocers in California already offer reusable bags for sales in their stores, most even offering affordable versions for 99 cents or one dollar.

The state's grocers are also required by law to have bins in their stores and accept single-use plastic carrier bags from customers for recycling.

However, despite the widespread availability of reusable shopping bags at affordable prices and the recycling bins in the stores for a number of years now, the use of reusable bags by consumers, along with the rate of plastic bag recycling, hasn't increased significantly. Grocers report distributing nearly as many of the single-use plastic and paper carrier bags currently as they did 3-4 years ago, for example. And just 5% of single-use plastic carrier bags are recycled annually in California. That's actually an impressive number, since the average nationwide is about 1.5%-2%.

Virtually every major grocery chain in California - Safeway Stores, Kroger, Stater Bros., Albertsons, Save Mart, Trader Joe's, Raley's and the many others, as well as independents, offer both free paper and plastic carrier bags in their respective stores. Therefore it will be easy for nearly 100% of the state's grocers to make the transition - they'll just pull out the plastic carrier bags from the stores and start charging for the paper they currently offer for free. We expect per bag fees ranging from five to ten cents each in the beginning. If we had to bet, we would say five cents a bag to start.

Two grocery chains with numerous stores in California, Whole Foods Market (in 2008) and Sprouts Farmers Market (in 2009), no longer offer single-use plastic carrier bags in their stores voluntarily.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market though only offers free single-use plastic carrier bags - along with a variety of reusable bags, ranging from its 20 cent per bag "bags for life," to 99 cent bags and more expensive canvas carriers - in its about 100 (out of 159) stores in California. Therefore Fresh & Easy will be faced with a decision if and when the single-use plastic bag-ban law is implemented.

That decision: Will Fresh & Easy offer paper grocery bags in its stores for a charge like all of its competitors will, or will it offer only reusable bags, which customers will have to pay at least 20 cents each for (the clear plastic but reusable "bags for life.")?

The self-service checkout stands at Fresh & Easy stores aren't outfitted to hold paper grocery bags, as is the case with its competitors checkouts. So if the grocer does bring in paper bags it will need to figure out where to put them. To do so properly might result in some re-configuring of the checkouts, which means added costs.

Of course there's another possible solution for Fresh & Easy: Don't bring in the paper bags at all but offer the reusable "bags for life" as the default bag, replacing the single-use plastic (and of course keep selling the other types of reusable bags), reducing the cost from the current 20 cents per bag to say 15 cents or 1o cents a bag.

But there could be a problem with this solution. The legislation defines a "reusable bag" as one designed and manufactured for at least 100 uses. Looking at and touching one of Fresh & Easy's "bags for life" at this very moment, it's hard to imagine it lasting for 100 uses. Nothing against the concept or the bag, which Fresh & Easy will replace for free if shoppers return it to the store when worn out. But they don't appear to be 100-use bags. If anyone has used a Fresh & Easy "bag for life" 100 times or more, let us know in the comments section below.

Reader Note:

Fresh & Easy Buzz has written extensively about the single-use carrier bag issue - and reusable bags - since early 2008. Click here, here, here and here to read those stories and analysis pieces. There are links to additional posts at the end of many of the stories linked above. Also, at the bottom of each page you can click "newer posts" and "older posts" for more pages.