Reusable bags are lightweight, durable, washable, and able to carry three to four times more materials than a single use plastic carryout bag.  They can be made from renewable or recyclabe materials, and can be purchased from a number of locations, including grocery and retail stores, and Internet websites.  Types of reusable bags include:  non-woven polypropylene (Plastic #5), cotton canvas, 100% recycled water/soda bottles, 600 Denier polyester backed with vinyl, and other material types. In California, State law requires all large supermarkets and pharmacies to sell reusable bags. In addition, an online search for the term “reusable bag” will identify a number of online retailers.*

Although paper carryout bags have a higher recycling rate (21 percent nationally), approximately 117,000 tons of paper carryout bags are disposed by residents countywide each year, comprising approximately 1 percent of the total 12 million tons of solid waste disposed each year. This tonnage is higher than the amount of plastic carryout bags disposed because each paper bag weighs more than a comparable plastic carryout bag.

1. Paper bags, which are made from tree pulp, and usually contain some percentage of recycled content; and
2. Littered paper carryout bags do not have the same impact on the ecosystem as plastic carryout bags for the following reasons:
• Paper carryout bags are less likely to be littered because they are heavier and less likely to become airborne,
• Paper carryout bags have a higher recycling rate (e.g., they are universally collected at curbside and have a recycling rate of 21 percent, and may have up to 100% post-consumer recycled content); and,
• Paper carryout bags will biodegrade in the marine environment, minimizing the negative environmental impacts.

However single use paper bags are approximately equal to those of single use plastic bags on their negative environmental impact, given the substantial amount of energy used, trees felled, and toxic pollution created in their manufacture.*

Biodegradable carryout bags are typically made of polymers that degrade, or decompose, when exposed to air, water, or sunlight.  These biodegradable bags are made from starches, biodegradable polymers or polylactic acid, and look and feel similar to plastic bags.

However, these biodegradable carryout bags typically only decompose in commercial composting facilities, and no such facilities exist in Los Angeles County.  In addition, reports have shown that biodegradable carryout bags can take over six months to decompose and would not decompose in marine environments; thus, these biodegradable carryout bags could have similar impacts on the environment that regular plastic carryout bags do.*

Plastic carryout bags are typically made of polyethylene, either high-density polyethylene (HDPE 2), which is thin, lightweight, and found in most grocery stores, or low-density polyethylene (LDPE 4), which is thicker and glossier and found in retail stores.

Although reusable bags cost between $0.99 and $10 each, the savings to consumers can be significant since grocers/retailers' cost for purchasing single use carryout bags would no longer be passed along to customers.*