It could soon cost you at the checkout aisle if you forget to bring your own bags to the grocery store.
The California Assembly passed legislation Wednesday to ban grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores and convenience stores from giving out plastic bags. It would also call for customers to be charged at least 5-cents for using store-issued paper bags.
The bill’s author says the goal is to eliminate unsightly plastic bags that often wind up in urban rivers and the ocean, as well as to reduce the number of bags heading for landfills.
"The biggest way to eliminate this kind of pollution is to ban it," said Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the measure and praised the Assembly for passing the ban.
California would be the first state to impose such a ban, if it's signed into law.
The bill, AB 1998, still needs state Senate approval.
