San Jose Latest To Ban Grocery Bags

The AP has an article today on the San Jose City Council’s decision to ban grocery bags. Or, to be more specific, to ban all grocery bags aside from paper bags with 40% or more recycled content, which could be used for a fee, pending an environmental review and a legal analysis. Presuming that those reviews allow the ordinance to take effect, this is a very good step, one of those it-should-have-happened-years-ago. Apparently, some weren’t too happy:

Industry groups opposed to the ban argue that improved recycling efforts are better than a patchwork of city-by-city ordinances.

Cute. And reminiscent of the car industry’s arguments against California’s tailpipe emissions laws in its ‘logic’ and ridiculousness.

I can see why grocery stores wouldn’t want bags to be banned completely but I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have been charging for them already. It’s like energy-efficient building. It’s green and it saves money. Is giving away free bags really going to attract customers?