San Francisco Is Awesome!

San Francisco is likely to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags made from petroleum. The ban would save 450,000 gallons of oil annually and remove the need to send 1,400 tons of debris to landfills each year. Recyclable plastic bags are available on the market and can replace the petroleum-based bags at major supermarkets and drugstores. I hope every city follows suit.

Under the legislation, beginning in six months large supermarkets and drugstores will not be allowed to offer plastic bags made from petroleum products.

"Many [foreign] cities and nations have already implemented very similar legislation," said Ross Mirkarimi, the city legislator who championed the new law. "It's astounding that San Francisco would be the first U.S. city to follow suit."

"I am hopeful that other U.S. cities will also adopt similar legislation," he said. "Why wait for the federal government to enact legislation that gets to the core of this problem when local governments can just step up to the plate?"