As of Jan. 1, California state law demands that all grocery stores, pharmacies, and retail stores will be banned from providing customers with plastic bags, and must resort to providing paper bags instead.
While this new law intends to reduce plastic waste in California, consumers are unhappy with the design details of new paper bags. For example, many store provided bags do not have handles, which annoys consumers.
Jovanna Malouf ’26 stated, “It’s just frustrating when you have a lot of groceries, you are more likely to drop your stuff and make more trips back and forth.”
Along with the fact that it is difficult to carry multiple bags at once, many find it unstable to carry certain bags.
Isaiah Mateo ’26 explained, “As much as I believe paper bags are the environmentally responsible thing to use, they feel terrible. I always feel like my groceries are going to rip out from the bottom. On top of that, many stores are removing the handles, making buying in bulk a hassle.”
People have reached the overall consensus that paper bags in the market currently are awkward and a bit inaccessible.
Environmental advocate Armando Castillo echoed the same sentiment, saying, “The concept is good but the alternative isn’t the best. Now we have bags that nobody can carry, and it is a hassle. It is better to give people more options, because not everybody is able to always bring their own bag.”
While it is true that many people are upset at this sudden change, it is acknowledged that the idea of moving away from plastic bags is good, because of how much waste they produce.
The city of Thousand Oaks, California, even writes that “the average use time of a plastic bag is just 12 minutes — yet it can persist in the environment for up to 1,000 years, breaking down into microplastics that contaminate soil and water.”
By accepting the new ban on plastic bags, Californians are able to help reduce the amount of plastic in the environment. However, that does not mean that the current paper bags should be here to stay. Instead, consumers hope businesses listen to the complaints of the people, and change their designs to be more accessible to all.
