San Francisco was the first U.S. city to ban the use of plastic bags

San Francisco was the first U.S. city to ban the use of plastic bags, followed almost immediately by Oakland and Palo Alto. foakleys But now three years later, many cities are also considering introducing a ban on paper bags as well. foakley sunglasses While restricting the use of has had many positive results, such as keeping the bags from ending up in marine mammals and clogging landfills, many consumers simply shifted to using paper bags. But paper bags also come with an environmental price of their own. Paper bags actually cost more to produce than plastic bags in terms of the energy it takes to manufacture them. foakley This doesn't even take into account the millions of trees needed each year for paper bag production, which only increases global warming. In order to persuade people to start bringing their own reusable bags to the checkout stand, San Jose, Berkeley and Santa Clara County are working to broaden the scope of the ban to include paper bags as well. The nonprofit environmental group Save the Bay put out their annual report in 2009 that stated that 3.8 billion plastic bags were used every year prior to the ban being enacted. foakley store San Francisco officials predicted last fall that the city's ban on the bags would reduce plastic bag usage by approximately 100 million. The Bay Area has a history of environmental activism, so it's no surprise that attitudes toward plastic bag usage have changed in the last few years. oakleys radar Plastic bags are now seen as offensive whereas just a few years ago they were lauded for their convenience factor. Despite consumer support plastic bag bans have not gone without challenges to their legality.