California grocers have sold groceries in paper bags since the invention of the supermarket. With the introduction of plastic bags, the state experienced a dramatic increase in plastic waste. (Californians Against Waste) (Petru) In response to concerns that the production and disposal of plastic bags had negative impacts on the environment, the California legislature banned single-use plastic bags. Consequently, grocers provided thicker reusable plastic bags that were exempt from the single-use bag ban. Consumers continued to dispose of the bags after a single use and the result was an overall increase in plastic waste. The state moved to ban all plastic bags and compel a charge for paper bags with a law that took effect in 2026.
From the early 20th century in California, grocers provided flat-bottom kraft paper bags for customers to carry their groceries out of the nascent retail model of self-service, large scale, and low prices. (Holden Bags) Advances in material science and manufacturing enabled the creation of the tubular polyethylene bag, and in 1982 the supermarket chains Safeway and Kroger began offering these thin plastic bags in the checkout aisles of their supermarkets. (Petru) The bags were claimed to be less costly, lighter and less bulky to transport, and stronger especially when wet. The bags were said to make it easier to carry more groceries. Because consumers were accustomed to discarding their bags after arriving home and could expect to get more bags at no additional cost the next time they shopped, they now discarded the plastic bags just as readily. The result was an increase in plastic consumption, plastic waste, and plastic litter.
Some cities and municipalities acted early to address environmental concerns about plastic production and waste by banning plastic grocery bags. In 2014, the California State Legislature acted to pass Senate Bill 270 that banned single-use plastic bags statewide, and voters in California upheld this ban in support of Proposition 67. (California Department of Justice) Under this law, stores were required to charge a mandatory minimum fee of ten cents per bag for recycled paper alternatives or for certified “reusable” heavy-duty plastic film bags. Lawmakers envisioned that this modest financial friction would gently nudge shoppers toward bringing their own durable totes. The intention of those who supported the ban was to reduce plastic waste, but consumers’ habits brought about a profound ironic reversal. Instead of adopting reusable cloth bags, consumers largely treated the new, thicker 2.25-mil plastic bags as disposable substitutes, paying the ten-cent fee out of convenience and discarding them after a single use in a manner similar to the thinner bags. Because these heavier bags were 3 to 4.5 times thicker and required at least that much more petroleum resins to manufacture, the policy backfired dramatically. Rather than shrinking the state’s plastic production and waste footprint, official waste tracking revealed that between 2014 and 2022, the net weight of discarded plastic bag waste per person in California rose by nearly forty-seven percent, generating a greater volume of plastic refuse than before the initial ban took effect. (Rust, “California’s War on Plastic Bag..”) (Sokolow et al.) (Rust, “Did California’s Plastic Bag…”) (CalRecycle)
This alarming trajectory forced a period of stark reckoning, as policymakers and advocacy groups were compelled to acknowledge that the attempted ban had exacerbated the very crisis it sought to solve. Accepting that the measure had failed, the state government enacted Senate Bill 1053 in September 2024. Taking full effect on January 1, 2026, the updated mandate eliminated all plastic carryout bags from grocery checkouts without exception. Retailers may now only supply compliant recycled paper bags at checkout for the mandated ten-cent or greater fee.
California’s saga with grocery bags traces a full circle from well-intentioned regulation to an ironic surge in waste, culminating in an unyielding total prohibition. Yet this historical arc leaves behind a lingering pathos. The initial adoption of plastic bags in 1982 bore a negative externality. Grocers saw the bags as lower cost. Some consumers preferred their superior strength, and since they were offered at no additional cost to the shopper, the true cost of the bags was shifted to expenses for long-term municipal litter collection, stormwater management and landfill maintenance, microplastic contamination in ecosystems, and public health costs associated with chemical leaching and manufacturing emissions. An ill-crafted legislative intervention that relied on a flawed incentive and carried a regulatory loophole inadvertently compounded the negative externality by increasing overall resource consumption and environmental degradation rather than internalizing the true social costs of the plastic bags. Marine wildlife and ecosystems suffered the physical degradation of accumulating synthetic waste. Business owners navigated shifting supply chains and administrative mandates, while everyday consumers absorbed millions of dollars in added checkout fees amidst rising costs of living. In the end, the history of California’s bag ban stands as a poignant reminder that noble intentions, when undermined by defective policy, exact a heavy tax on both people and the natural world.
Works Cited
California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. “Single-Use Carryout Bag Ban (Proposition 67/SB 270).” State of California, oag.ca.gov/consumers/bag-ban.
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). 2021–2022 Statewide Waste Characterization Study. State of California, 2023, calrecycle.ca.gov/wastechar/.
“The History and Evolution of Shopping Bags.” Holden Bags, 19 Mar. 2024, www.holdenbags.com/blog/the-history-and-evolution-of-shopping-bags. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.
Petru, Alexis. “A Brief History of the Plastic Bag.” TriplePundit, 5 Nov. 2014, triplepundit.com/2014/brief-history-plastic-bag/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.
“The Problem of Plastic Bags.” Californians Against Waste, www.cawrecycles.org/the-problem-of-plastic-bags. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.
Rust, Susanne. “California’s War on Plastic Bag Use Seems to Have Backfired. Lawmakers Are Trying Again.” Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2024, www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-02-12/californias-plastic-bag-ban-backfired-lawmakers-try-again.
—. “Did California’s Plastic Bag Ban Make Plastic Waste a Bigger Problem?” Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2024, www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-02-18/california-plastic-bag-ban-plastic-waste-increase.
Sokolow, Lucinda, Celeste Meiffren-Swango, and Jenn Engstrom. Plastic Bag Bans Work: Well-Designed Single-Use Plastic Bag Bans Reduce Waste and Litter. Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, and Frontier Group, Jan. 2024, pirg.org/california/resources/plastic-bag-bans-work/.
Note: the above is not intended to be a “perfect” example, but it is a first draft that we will review and edit together in class. I have not reviewed it for use of passive voice or the negative form as demonstrated in class.
Artifacts
Students do not need to publish their outline. This is provided as an example.
Key points for the Body:
- California grocers sold groceries in paper bags (place, agent, action)
- They switched to plastic bags in 1982 (agent, action, time)
- Plastic waste increased (cause)
_
- Environmental concerns prompted one-time use plastic bag ban (cause, manner, action)
- Bags were thickened to exempt them from the one-time use ban (cause, action)
- Thicker bags increased overall plastic waste (reversal, suffering, recognition)
_
- All plastic grocery bags were banned (recap of suffering waste, costs, loss)
_
Outline
I. Introduction
- Historical shift from paper to plastic bags and the resulting waste crisis.
- The flawed single-use ban, its unintended backfire, and the complete 2026 plastic prohibition.
II. Historical Rise of Plastic (1980s)
- Transition from early 20th-century paper bags to polyethylene bags in 1982 (Safeway/Kroger).
- Low cost and convenience entrenched disposable single-use habits among consumers.
III. The Policy Backfire (SB 270 / Prop 67)
- Statewide ban on single-use plastic with a $0.10 fee for paper or thicker “reusable” plastic bags.
- Consumers treated 3–4.5x thicker bags as disposable, causing a 47% per-capita surge in plastic waste weight (2014–2022).
IV. Total Plastic Ban (SB 1053)
- State acknowledgment of policy failure.
- SB 1053 enacted in 2024 (effective Jan 1, 2026), eliminating all plastic checkout bags and allowing only fee-based recycled paper.
V. Policy Lessons & Externalities
- Unpriced environmental costs (litter cleanup, microplastics, health impacts) were deferred to the public.
- Illustrates how flawed regulatory incentives worsen environmental and economic outcomes.
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