SF Says Goodbye to Plastic Bags

In a decision made last week by the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco has become the first American city to ban plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets and chain pharmacies.
When the law goes into effect (in six months for supermarkets, one year for pharmacies), many stores may revert to using paper bags. Other stores may use the slightly more expensive, corn-based biodegradable plastic bags, which can be composted in San Francisco's curbside compost bins. Cutting back on the 180,000 plastic bags distributed in San Francisco each year will reduce our oil intake—430,000 gallons of oil are required to produce 100 million bags. But before we embrace a new form of disposability in corn-based plastic, let's reuse what we already have first.
When the law goes into effect (in six months for supermarkets, one year for pharmacies), many stores may revert to using paper bags. Other stores may use the slightly more expensive, corn-based biodegradable plastic bags, which can be composted in San Francisco's curbside compost bins. Cutting back on the 180,000 plastic bags distributed in San Francisco each year will reduce our oil intake—430,000 gallons of oil are required to produce 100 million bags. But before we embrace a new form of disposability in corn-based plastic, let's reuse what we already have first.
Aaron Britt
Kathryn Schulz
Deborah Baldwin
Sarah Rich
Christopher Bright
Greg McElroy
Sam Jacob
Brian Fichtner
Laura Heller
Jamie Waugh
Geoff Manaugh
Sonja Hall
Laure Joliet
David A. Greene
Andy Cruz
Miyoko Ohtake
Jordan Kushins
Apartment Therapy
Archidose
Archinect
Architecture.mnp
ArchNewsNow
BLDGBLOG
Boing Boing
Brand Avenue
Building Design
City of Sound
Conscientious
Core77
Coudal
Curbed
Curbed LA
Curbed SF
Design Observer
Design*Sponge
dezain
dezeen
Earth Architecture
Eikongraphia
Fantastic Journal
Gabion
Jetson Green
Inhabitat
Interactive Architecture
Kosmograd
Kottke
Lebbeus Woods
Life Without Buildings
Loud Paper
materialicious
MIMOA
MoCo Loco
New Modernist
New Scientist
no2self
OZOlife
Paleo-Future
PingMag
Plataforma Arquitectura
New Scientist
no2self
Paleo-Future
PingMag
Plataforma Arquitectura
Pruned
Strangeharvest
Super Colossal
The Design Vote
The House Vote
things magazine
Where
TreeHugger
we make money not art

