Campaign Details
Save The Bay is working with cities and counties around the Bay to protect our waterways from plastic bag pollution. Learn more pending bag bans throughout the region.
San Jose
Sunnyvale
Santa Clara County
Alameda County
Berkeley
Fremont
Hayward
San Rafael
Marin County
San Francisco
San Mateo County
Contra Costa County
Sonoma County
San Jose
The largest Bay Area city, and third largest city in California, recently passed an ordinance that will ban plastic bags and place a charge on recycled-content paper bags at all retailers, and includes special provisions to provide free, durable, reusable bags to low-income consumers. San Jose’s ordinance can and should be a model across the region, state and nation.
The San Jose Planning Commission certified the Environmental Impact Report prepared by City staff to ensure that San Jose’s proposal would indeed be environmentally beneficial.
On December 14, 2010, the San Jose City Council passed the toughest city ban on single-use plastic and paper bags anywhere in California, or anywhere in the country for that matter!
Sunnyvale
The City Council prioritized single-use bags as a study issue for the city in 2010. On November 16, 2010, the council voted to draft an ordinance and plan for an environmental impact review. Save The Bay and several members of the community representing neighborhood associations, local businesses, and local environmental groups spoke out in favor of a ban.
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County is proposing an ordinance that would ban plastic bags and require a 15 cent charge for recycled-content paper bags at all stores in the unincorporated areas of the county (with the exception of restaurants and nonprofits). The County has prepared the community for this ordinance by giving away 40,000 reusable bags over the past two years.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider this ordinance on April 26th, 2011. Stay tuned for vote results!
Stopwaste (Alameda County)
Stopwaste – a public agency made up of the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board – completed an Environmental Impact Review for a single-use bag ordinance in October 2011 and presented a draft ordinance to their board in December 2011. The ordinance would ban plastic bags and establish a ten cent charge on paper bags at all food-selling retailers in Alameda County. The board voted unanimously in support of the ordinance at the first reading and is scheduled for a final vote after the second reading on January 25, 2012.
If the ordinance passes, it will be the first countywide bag ordinance in the Bay Area. Save The Bay will continue to work with Alameda County cities to support expanding the ordinance to cover all retail establishments.
Berkeley
The City of Berkeley began exploring a plastic bag ordinance at the end of 2009, but delayed their efforts while the statewide bag bill (AB 1998) was a possibility in 2010. The city is now awaiting the results of StopWaste’s single-use bag EIR and will consider moving forward once again when it is complete.
Fremont
After banning polystyrene foam food-ware in May 2010, the Council decided soon after to begin addressing plastic bags. The City may decide to assist Alameda County in their efforts to complete an environmental impact review of a potential bag ordinance rather than taking action on their own. Save The Bay will continue encouraging Fremont to dedicate resources toward the development of a strong regional approach to plastic bags.
Hayward
The City of Hayward recently passed a ban on polystyrene foam food-ware and is beginning to research their options for a plastic bag ordinance. Save The Bay has provided staff with resources and information and will continue supporting the city throughout the process.
San Rafael
On November 1st, 2010, the San Rafael City Council directed city staff to work with other Marin County cities to develop an ordinance similar to the one being proposed by the county. Save The Bay will provide staff with resources and will continue monitoring progress on an ordinance.
Marin County
On January 25th, 2011, the Marin County Board of Supervisors passed a ban on plastic bags for the unincorporated county. The ban applies to most stores that sell food, including grocery stores, large pharmacies, and convenience stores. The ordinance also requires stores to charge a minimum of five cents for each paper bag in an effort to encourage customers to bring reusable bags. The ordinance will go into effect on January 1st, 2012.
Following the leadership from the County, the City of San Rafael has organized a Single-Use Plastics Advisory Committee, which will help guide San Rafael and several other Marin County cities in developing policy recommendations for plastic bags and polystyrene food service ware. Save The Bay is participating in this committee and will provide advocacy and guidance throughout the process.
San Francisco
Save The Bay is working with San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi to expand their current ban on plastic bags, which bans the distribution of plastic bags at large grocery stores and pharmacies, and requires that paper bags have a minimum 4 percent post-consumer recycled-content. The City may complete an environmental report to ensure their ban expansion remains on solid legal ground.
Save The Bay expects that the expanded ordinance on bags will cover all retailers and include a charge for recycled-content paper bags.
San Mateo County
After passing a ban on polystyrene food ware in February, San Mateo County and some of its cities are already beginning to explore a ban on plastic bags. Daly City, South San Francisco, San Carlos, and Belmont are among the cities that have recently expressed interest in taking regional action on single-use bags. Additionally, Supervisor Tissier has directed her staff to begin collecting information. Save The Bay in engaged with city and county staff and will work diligently to ban bags in San Mateo County!
Contra Costa County
West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority (Recyclemore) – a waste management agency that includes the cities of Pinole, Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules, San Pablo, and El Sobrante – is developing a model single-use bag ordinance that its member cities can adopt. Save The Bay has been providing feedback on their draft ordinance and advocacy to the cities to support Recyclemore's efforts.
Recyclemore has also reached out to Contra Costa County, the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, and the Contra Costa County Clean Water Program to encourage regional collaboration on a consistent single-use bag policy. Currently, these agencies are discussing internally the possibility of joining Recyclemore in a countywide effort. Save The Bay continues to monitor the status of this collaboration.
Sonoma County
Sonoma County Waste Management Agency (SCWMA) is recommending a countywide ban on single-use bags. The agency has given presentations to every city council in the county as well as the county Board of Supervisors, explaining the benefits of an ordinance that applies to the entire county and asking for each jurisdiction's support for moving forward. Most jurisdictions in the county are supportive, and the agency is continuing their outreach efforts to gain support from each city. Save The Bay has been in contact with the Board of Supervisors, the Rohnert Park City Council, the Santa Rosa City Council, and others to generate support for a regional policy.