Welcome to

Some county governments want plastic grocery sacks outlawed because of concerns about the bags filling up landfills. Lawmakers halted those plans by passing a bill banning any ban on plastic bags. As Whitney Ray tells us, some people aren’t waiting on government to bar the use of plastic bags and have already stopped using plastic.

Hear it Here: Bag Ban Barred

Major grocery store customers are given the same option at checkout. Take their groceries home in paper bags or plastic. Many choose plastic.

“They’re easier to carry and when you get older things get heavy, so they’re more convenient,” said Sally Ann Smith who was shopping at Publix Monday.

Plastic bags end up in piles with other trash but plastic takes longer to waste away. Takes more than 500 years for a plastic bag to decompose.

Some county governments in Florida want to keep grocery stores from using plastic. Lawmakers headed off attempts at a ban by passing a bill postponing any local government from taking action until 2010. The ban hasn’t stopped shoppers like Whitney Arpasi from boycotting plastic bags. Arpasi takes her groceries home in a reusable tote bag.

“This bag is actually made out of recycled plastic bags and it’s held up for about eight years now,” said Arpasi.

People who use cloth bags aren’t the only ones concerned about the environment. Bob Sanchez chooses plastic. He just wishes more people would recycle.

“It’s convenient just to save them up and return them to Publix,” said Sanchez.

For now keeping plastic bags out of landfills will be left up to customers who may choose to bring canvas or return plastic to stores. Newspapers joined the coalition to pass the ban on the ban. If the Governor signs the bill, local governments wouldn’t be able to outlaw plastic bags until 2010.