A big win for the environment: Washington single-use plastic bag ban takes effect

Washington chooses wildlife over waste as its new single-use plastic bag ban becomes official.
 
On Oct. 1, Washington’s new single-use plastic bag ban went into effect — and it’s cause for celebration. Moving forward, retailers statewide will no longer distribute single-use plastic bags and will instead provide customers who do not bring their own bag with a paper or reusable bag for a small fee. This law, championed by Sen. Mona Das and Rep. Strom Peterson, will help protect Washington’s ocean, rivers and wildlife from the harm caused by needless plastic pollution.
 
“Most plastic bags are used for only a few minutes before being thrown away, so implementing this law and promoting reusable bags are important steps in the right direction,” said Pam Clough, acting director of Environment Washington. “Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our environment for centuries.”
 
The tide is turning on plastics nationwide. A growing number of states are passing legislation designed to reduce waste and ban plastic pollution, as documented in a recent report, “Trash In America,” released this week by our national research partners at Environment America National Research Policy Center.
 

Read more about this victory.

Lean more about our Wildlife Over Waste campaign.