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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
FAX:  (916) 445-4633

Re: AB 2449 (Levine) Plastic Grocery Bag Recycling -- Support

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I am writing in support of AB 2449, which would require large grocery stores to take back plastic bags for recycling.  

Over 19 billion plastic bags are disposed of annually in California, creating 147,038 tons of waste using over a million barrels of oil.  That means 600 bags are thrown away every second in a pointless cycle of disposal costing our economy and our environment. 

Grocery stores distribute 60% of the state’s plastic bags, or about 32 million bags daily but less than 4% of those bags are recycled.  It costs $20.5 million to landfill these bags annually, and estimated state litter collection costs are in excess of $303.2 million.  Bags play an important role in the litter stream - a Los Angeles River Cleanup found that plastic film and bags made up 45% of the litter volume in and around the Los Angeles River.

Bags also add to environmental mitigation costs.  Due to pollution, the EPA recently mandated that certain California waterways come under “Total Maximum Daily Load” (TMDL) compliance standards, which allow no litter presence. The NRDC estimates that compliance will cost public agencies more than $1.7 billion in Southern California in the next decade.  Litter also threatens aspects of our commercial sector.  In 2000, for instance, tourism generated 12 billion of the gross state product (GSP), 58% of the 2000 GSP compared to other coastal industries.  By maintaining the health of our coastlines, we protect tourism and help maintain our vital commercial sectors.

Plastic bags also cost the environment.  Plastic bags are estimated to take several centuries, perhaps a millennia, to decompose.  That means if a plastic bag entered the ocean at the signing of the Magna Carta, that plastic could still exist today. Before then, it will break down into small pieces that can be ingested by, and severely harm, wildlife.

Every year, plastic debris – such as bags - kills animals through entanglement, starvation, suffocation, and ingestion.  To date, 267 species around the world have been affected by plastic debris, which is estimated to kill over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles each year.  Plastic bags are especially dangerous to sea turtles, who mistake the bags for jellyfish, a main food source.  Currently, 86% of sea turtle species have had reported problems with marine debris.  Roughly 80% of marine debris originates from land-based activities, and plastics make up 90% of floating marine debris.  

California has long been a leader of sound decisions which simultaneously benefit the economy and the environment.  It is illogical, even ludicrous, that we create disposable items that are frequently littered and whose use expires in less than ten minutes from materials that take hundreds of years to break down. 

AB 2449 is an important building block in support the wise use of our resources and continuing to create an environmentally sound economy.  I strongly support its signing into law. 

Sincerely,

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