Dear Editor:
Every trip to Vons reminds me that Santa Monica’s Single-Use Carryout Bag ordinance is having the exact opposite effect from its original intent. The plastic bags that Vons now sells are several times thicker than the bags they used before the ordinance. It’s highly unlikely that these bags are actually reused (News Flash: Printing THIS IS A MULTI-USE BAG doesn’t make it so) On top of that, Vons hides their paper bags behind the registers, effectively making them available only by request. The likely result is that MORE plastic is now polluting the community, not less.
The City Council should immediately address this issue. The obvious solution is an outright ban on all plastic bags at stores. Short of that, they should at least require that paper bags are prioritized over plastic, ensure that the plastic bags that are distributed are actually multi-use, and require stores to offer plastic bag recycling if they do distribute plastic bags.
Craig Boreth, Santa Monica
