March 26, 2013 -- Three Santa Monica High School students took the top prize in the senior division of Environmental Management at the LA County Science Fair this weekend for their analysis of the effects of a ban on plastic bags in the beachside city.

Angelina Hwang, Edie Cote and Ivan Morales, members of SAMOHI's environmental science eco-action group called Team Marine, came in first place for the group's two-year study of the impact of Santa Monica's ban on one-time use plastic bags that went into effect in September 2011.

“The plastic bag ban worked in convincing people to use reusable bags,” Cote, a senior at SAMOHI, referring to their findings, which compared consumers' habits before the ban took place and after.

Aside from simply banning plastic bags, the ordinance also levied a 10-cent fee for paper bags, which Cote said led to shoppers using more reusable canvas bags.

However, there was about a 20 percent increase in paper bag use among patrons of “regular” grocery stores like Albertsons, said Morales. That increase was offset by a decrease in paper bag use among patrons of “eco-friendly” stores, like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

“Between pre- and post-ban, reusable bags increased by 31 percentage points, followed by no bag (21 points), and paper (18 points),” according to the official statement of the students' findings.

He said that the findings counter claims by opponents of banning plastic bags who maintain that such bans only cause people to use more paper bags and therefore don't solve the pollution problems.

Among the findings was the revelation that the people using more reusable bags tended to be older.

“I think it was surprising that the older age groups used more reusable bags,” Cote said.

According to the study, for which students observed 50,400 shoppers at five different stores over the course of 19 months, nearly 50 percent of shoppers 60 years old and up preferred reusable bags.

Forty to 59-year-olds trailed the older group by a few percentage points.

Cote's classmate, Hwang, was also surprised by this finding.

“I was surprised because the typical stereotype is that the older generation is more resistant to change,” Hwang said.

Roughly 45 percent of 20 to 39-year-olds who shopped at “eco-friendly” stores preferred paper bags, as opposed to just over 20 percent who preferred reusable bags.

Teenagers were “the kings and queens of using no bags,” said Hwang, probably because they don't buy many items at a time.

The three students are hopeful that their work, which they plan on publishing in a scientific journal, will have a broader impact on the world.

“I'm hoping other cities will use the research as evidence to support their plastic bag bans,” Morales said.

More than that, all three students hoped that their work might support even broader legislation, like a State-wide -- or even a nation-wide -- plastic bag ban.

“I'm inspired by these young people's work,” said Benjamin Kay, a marine biologist and science teacher at SAMOHI.

Morales is also working on Team Marine's other project, converting a 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle into an electric car in order to show “that if high school students can convert a gas car to an electric one, so can anybody else.”

The students will now go on to the State competition held at the California Science Center April 15 and 16. They will also present their data at the AltBuild Expo at the Santa Monica Convention Center on May 11.

"As I said when we introduced the Sustainability Rights ordinance,
speaking as a participant in the original 1970 Earth Day," said Council member Kevin McKeown, "I hope we're now giving the next generation the tools to continue the environmental work my generation was unable to finish."

For a copy of their findings, click here. For more information about Team Marine, click here.