Carpinteria makes a clean break with single-use bags

There are two statewide measures on the ballot next month that deal with the question of single-use plastic grocery bags. One of those measures would uphold a new state law that would phase out such bags. But even that doesn't go as far as what the residents of Carpinteria have done. In that city, paper grocery bags were banned, along with plastic, as part of a community clean-up program. Joe Mathews says the environmentally-minded small city near Santa Barbara provides an example that should be emulated by the rest of the state.

Photo: Bianca Almada