Californians to vote on ban of plastic bags

Californians will face the decision of banning plastic bags this upcoming election. Proposition 67 is a veto referendum that is set to be on the ballot in November.

A yes vote for Proposition 67 would uphold senate bill 270 that would ban plastic bags. And a no vote would get rid of the ban altogether, our news team talked to residents in Imperial Valley to get their thoughts.

“I think that we should ban plastic bags because I know that it is harmful for the environment, like the turtles and the birds and all the fish that end up eating them or getting strangled by them, “said Aracely Nieto, Brawley resident.

If the measure is approved, large grocery stores and pharmacies would have to adhere to the ban and charge 10 cents for recycled, compostable and reusable grocery bags.

But convenience store and liquor stores wouldn’t have to do so till the following year.

“I lived in Bellingham, Washington where we had the ban during the time that I lived there and in the beginning it was an adjustment for people to get used to bringing their own bag, it wasn’t something they were used to doing, so there was a little bit of an adjustment period. But overall it worked very well up there, so i think i would be in favor of it,” explained Melani Guinn, resident of Imperial.

Prop 67 would still allow single-use plastic bags for meat and certain produce. If Proposition 67 passes California would be the first state to ban plastic bags.

“I think we should all resort to reusable bags because it will be more economical so we don’t have to pay every time we go to the store,” added Nieto.