Great news! The South Bay Chapter is proud to report that the Manhattan Beach City Council Tuesday evening voted unanimously tonight to prohibit carry-out plastic bags.



Speaking in support of the ordinance was Surfrider Global legal intern, Rachel
Dorfman, as well as Craig Cadwallader, Chair, and Alan Walti, Environmental Coordinator, of the South Bay Chapter. Representatives of Heal the Bay, the Earth Resource Foundation, and Manhattan Beach residents, including one 9 year-old resident, also encouraged passage of the ordinance.

Details of the ordinance and background research information is available through the following links:

1. Staff Report Summary, 9 Pages, 68K, PDF format:
http://www.surfrider-southbay.org/pdf/20080701-12_Summary_Pages1-9.pdf

2. Full Staff Report, 282 Pages, 12.5MB, PDF format:
http://www.surfrider-southbay.org/pdf/20080701-12.pdf

The Manhattan Beach City Council voted unanimously in spite of the threat of legal action from the plastic bag manufacturing people, and have modeled their ordinance on the ground-breaking ordinance recently passed by Malibu. The plan will be phased in over two time periods, with grocery stores, food vendors,restaurants, pharmacies,
and City facilities being given a 6-month period from tonight, and one year for all other retail establishments and vendors.

Though the issue of paper bags were discussed and a potential fee per bag was part of the discussion to discourage their use, there is no provision in the current ordinance to prohibit the use of disposable paper bags. Surfrider supports the elimination of both plastic and paper bags in favor of the adoption of reusable shopping bags.

Testimony during the public hearing indicates that approximately 40% of Manhattan Beach residents have already adopted reusable shopping bags.