As of September 1, 2011, ALL 1,875 retail establishments are prohibited from providing light-weight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. MORE

By Michael Aushenker
Special to The Lookout

September 6, 2011 -- During the first days of the city-wide plastic bag ban, Santa Monica shoppers were handling the change fairly easily.

However, a few growing pains were evident as some uninformed customers scrambled to make sense of the law banning single-use plastic bags which took effect September 1.

A round-up of stores around the Market at Santa Monica Place uncovered that for the most part, the plastic bag ban was not much of an issue there.

Rockenwagner Souffle bakery never used the outlawed bags, and the manager at Primi Laboratorio said the ban had no impact at all on his establishment: “No, because we’ve always used paper bags.”

A clerk at Famima! Fresh Foods on Third Street Promenade explained that “We started to give people paper bags and most of the people don’t want to pay for the bags. They bring their own bags.”

The Famima! clerk complained about the paper bags they were offering their customers because “70 percent [of the bags] have to be recycled. They’re not strong enough.”

He said that the store will be getting more durable paper bags soon. “We need to get better bags. No doubt about it,” he said.

Nevertheless, most customers were cooperative, bringing their own recyclable bags.

The two men working behind the counter at the 7-Eleven on Wilshire Boulevard and 7th Street said that the transition was going smoothly, and indeed that was evident, not only by the reusable bags on sale, but by plenty of signage all around the cash register and on store’s front door.

Results were more mixed on day two of the ban at Bob’s Market in Sunset Park, the Vons supermarket on Wilshire Boulevard and Euclid Street, and the Whole Foods at Wilshire Boulevard and 5th Street.

“We haven’t had so many complaints,” said Joey Posada, a store manager at Whole Foods.

Posada said that many of his customers have gotten into the habit of bringing their own bags for months now, and that, in general, only the lunch work crowd usually comes in without their own bags.

“People are...understanding of how important using these bags is to the environment,” he said. “We’re also giving away a free [reusable] bag with purchases of $50 or more.”

An assistant manager at Whole Foods confirmed that there’s been a mix of reactions (“Some are, ‘Are you serious?!’”) but that by day two of the ban, the shopping experience was going a bit smoother for customers.

Indeed, at the checkout line, customers who had not brought the canvas bags adapted quickly.

“We’ll have to charge you for [the paper bags],” a Whole Foods cashier informed a customer.

“Never mind,” the customer responded, taking her purchase by hand.

“Bring your own bag next time,” the cashier gently reminded the woman.

“[Just] five minutes ago, there was a guy who lost it,” said Lafayette James, the assistant manager at Bob’s Market on Ocean Park Boulevard and 17th Street.

But James insisted that this was the exception and not the norm.

There have been several months to get the word out, he said.

However, “that was so long ago, it went away, but people are receptive,” James said, adding that people either spring for the 10 cents per bag or walk their food out.

“I don’t like it,” said Mary, a Bob’s shopper wheeling her reusable bags to her car. “It’s not consistent with all of the stores. At the Whole Foods, they give you a dime for bringing your own bag.”

She added that Santa Monica restaurants she’s been to such as Il Forno Cafe “put the food in a plastic bag and they don’t charge you for it….I think it’s an inconvenience.”

In fact, vendors of hot, prepared food like restaurants are exempt from the law.

Customers at Vons were generally chipper about the new law, according to Steve Carr, the store manager.

“It’s been positive,” Carr said. “They’ve had a good heads-up.

“There’s been a bit of grumbling, but they’re all making a commitment to adjust.”

“It’s going really well,” said Vons shopper Frankie Dawa on the way to her car. “I’ve a whole collection of these [reusable] bags.”

Nearby, a man with a British accent named Frank wheeled a cartful of groceries in paper bags to his vehicle. He approved of the new law.

“It’s okay. It just took me by surprise,” said Frank, who had just moved down from San Francisco. “But now that I know, I’ll bring my own bags.”

The plastic bag ban passed in January, and the Office of Sustainability and the Environment has since been getting people ready for the change by spreading the word and giving out reusable cloth bags.

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley praised her?hometown for trading single-use bags for reusable bags, which proponents deem environmentally smart and?economically sensible.

“I look forward to the day when plastic bags stop swirling around our?feet in the waves,” Brownley said, “and no longer mar our beaches or kill marine life.” The Assemblywoman added that she is pursuing a statewide ban on single-use bags.

“The American Chemistry Council thought it could kill this movement last year,” she continued, “but since?then, six cities and counties have passed their own bans and a seventh won a?legal ruling to proceed with its bag ordinance.”

Californians throw away an estimated 16 billion plastic bags a year, which breaks down to more?than 400 bags per person, according to Brownley's staff. State taxpayers spend several?hundred million dollars annually to dispose of the bags at a time when California can least afford it.