California Bans Plastic Shopping Bags

California lawmakers have voted to ban single-use plastic bags at checkout counters in supermarkets. The new law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2011, making California the first U.S. state to enact such a ban. San Francisco was the first city in the country to ban plastic bags in 2007.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called the law “a great victory for our environment.”

Shoppers will be encouraged to purchase reusable canvas bags sold by stores for about $1 each. Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, says shoppers who forget their reusables will be issued paper bags made of 40 percent recycled material for a nickel.