Californians - Vote YES on Prop 67

[Fog City Rider]

Link to a short article I wrote about if anyone would like to learn more - https://sandiego.surfrider.org/2016/09/02/prop-67-65-how-to-save-the-bag-ban-this-november/

[cruzanboard]

Getting tired of this one.
Im on the water a lot, rivers, lakes, oceans. Like the rest of you.
I DONT see many bags in the water.
I DO see, cans, bottles, take out boxes & other stuff. (particularly on water with small motorboats).

If the green agenda is aiming at litter-trash, shouldn't they be looking at the other stuff?
Outlaw all of it and no more litter.

Im not against good green policy. I just dont see the 'plastic bags = water pollution' a factual reality.
Banning bags and other plastics to reduce GHG? Another matter.

[stoneaxe]

I see it all, and you have to start somewhere. Banning single use plastic bags is not a bad thing. Next...shoot anyone throwing their cigarette butts on the ground.....

[PonoBill]

I wouldn't shoot them, just make them eat it. Or do as authorities in Singapore did when the manager of the Ferrari team tossed a butt on the ground. He was in jail for six hours before enough pull was arranged to get him sprung. Otherwise he would probably have been caned.

[SlatchJim]

At an early age my mother instilled in me a vile hatred for littering.  I work at a recycling facility and hazardous waste services company responsible for a significant amount of new law on recycling and waste disposal.  I also spend my mornings walking my dog and picking up litter in my neighborhood. The bag law is a good start, and bringing your own bag just requires a hair more planning. I'd like to suggest a couple "next steps."

Eliminate food packaging that leaves the restaurant. In effect this would stop "fast food" drive through and force eating in the restaurant, but (according to my guesstimation) about half the litter I see in the neighborhood is from this source. Extrapolating to the people who responsibly throw there waste paper and cups in the trash, that's a hell of a lot of waste.  Bring your own cups or use the restaurant's. No waste leaving.

Candy wrappers are the second most collected waste I see in the hood.  I don't know how to fix this one easily, other than convincing people that candy probably isn't doing them any favors.  If you could work that one for the win win, that would be a coup.

Enact Singaporean law for littering (and tagging) - Create jobs for cane manufacturers. 

Just some thoughts before voting.  I'd love to have seen my last plastic bag floating by at Doheny.

[ruralwaters]

+1 @ Stoneax, PonoBill, and SlatchJim

I spend about 10 minutes after each paddle picking up trash, plastic bags and bottles, fast food wrappers and cups, and cig butts.  It is in the parking area of a nature area every damn time.  Oh and cheapass beer and booze bottles.  Gross and foul.

[stoneaxe]

The 1st CCBC benefitted the Ocean Conservancies International Coastal Cleanup...here's an infographic on the top 10 items from their 2016 report.

[Fog City Rider]

Glad to mostly see support for Prop 67 on the 'Zone.  This is an example of well-thought out environmental legislation that took its queues from over 100 local ordinances in CA. 

California actually passed this statewide ban TWO YEARS AGO, but the plastic bag industry spent millions to collect enough signatures to force a referendum vote.  This is literally CA vs. Big Plastic.  Every beach & ocean loving Californian ought to get behind this...

If the green agenda is aiming at litter-trash, shouldn't they be looking at the other stuff?
Outlaw all of it and no more litter.

Bags are a starting point for what you're saying here.  "Outlaw all of it" is easier said than done, my friend.  We are up against powerful & well-funded industries which profit immensely from our addiction to disposable items, the true costs of which are externalized to the environment.  The shift needs to start somewhere. 

[Zooport]

They managed to get plastic bags banned in Huntington Beach and it lasted less than a year.  Didn't do any good so they repealed the ban.

[Off-Shore]

Here in Hong Kong, the environmental levy scheme on plastic shopping bags was fully implemented on April 1 2015, to cover all retail outlets. Then, the number of registered retail outlets required to charge their customers HK$ 50 cents (approx UK 5 pence / USD 6 cents / Euro 0.06) per plastic bag increased from 3,300 to about 100,000.
 
Exemptions were given to plastic bags used for foods which were not contained in airtight packaging; chilled or frozen food; and bags containing drinks or medicine.

It has worked. And now you rarely see anyone carrying a plastic bag in Hong Kong. And there is definitely a marked reduction of plastic bags in the seas around Hong Kong.

We have just gotten used to carrying reusable bags with us when we go to the stores, or buying a new reusable bag when we get there without a bag. It is amazing how habits change, and we would rather buy a reusable fabric bag, than have to take the walk of shame by buying the old style plastic bags..