Wonky Wednesday: Santa Clara County Says “so long” to Plastic Bags
April 27, 2011 
9 Comments
Some trends just didn’t stand the test of time – Pogs, slap bracelets, pagers, Furby, and pet rocks, for example (although I did inherit my mother’s pet rock from the 60s). But there is one trend catching on throughout the Bay Area that we are particularly excited about – banning plastic bags.
Yesterday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to ban plastic bags in the unincorporated areas of the county. The 60 or so stores in the unincorporated county will no longer be allowed to give customers plastic bags at the check out stand. If customers want a paper bag, they will have to pay 15 cents. The goal of this policy is to encourage people to bring their own bags when they shop. As more people develop this habit, fewer plastic bags will end up littering our creeks and the Bay.
Santa Clara County is now joining the elite – and growing – group of Bay Area jurisdictions that are getting rid of these wasteful and polluting products. Marin County voted in January to ban plastic bags; San Jose approved their bag ordinance last December; San Francisco, Fairfax, and Palo Alto have had bans in place for a couple years.
Santa Clara County is once again showing itself to be an environmental leader in the Bay. We look forward to seeing cities within the county take the same initiative, and make plastic bag bans a lasting trend.
– Allison Chan
Does this affect Safeway, Lucky’s and other major stores? What does unincorporated mean here?
Yes, Chandra, this ordinance affects all retailers, which includes chain grocery stores and pharmacies.
Unincorporated areas are the areas within the county that are not part of a specific municipality. San Jose, Milpitas, Santa Clara, and all the cities in Santa Clara County are incorporated, but there is a large portion of the county outside of the boundaries of these cities. Some unincorporated include the hillsides, some of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Burbank area.
I’m glad the county’s making progress, but I really hope this reaches the incorporated areas soon
We do, too! The good thing is that Sunnyvale and Milpitas are both considering bans as well. Sunnyvale may vote on an ordinance at the end of the year, and Milpitas will soon bring this issue to their council for guidance. San Jose paved the way by passing a ban last December.
It’s a good start, but why only unincorporated areas? I don’t imagine that includes very much of the county…
The unincorporated areas include around 60 businesses. The county only has jurisdiction over the unincorporated areas; they aren’t able to pass ordinances for the cities themselves.
The county’s ordinance can now serve as a model for cities within the county as they consider enacting bans of their own.
Puhleez. Aren’t you making too much out of a mole-hill? It just affects 60 stores in only you-know-where. It doesn’t affect the big bad players, yet. You don’t even explain that and just write slyly, “unincorporated”.
Thanks for the comment, Sanjay.
We see Santa Clara County’s ban as a model for progress in the rest of the county. As you may know, San Jose passed their ban last December, which covers a large portion of the county. Sunnyvale is working on an ordinance that is expected to come before their council for a vote at the end of the year. Milpitas is also considering a bag ban. Hopefully, with the county and these cities moving forward, the rest of the county will follow soon after.
Allison, Thanks for responding. Apologies for the previous sarcastic tone, but I felt your headline and article were over-sensationalizing the ban. Looking forward to the other bans.