Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) passed new ordinance prohibiting plastic bags in January.

“The law requires grocery stores to adopt single use bag reduction, costing people 10 cents per bag,” Ted Duboise wrote on the Plastic Bag Ban Report website.

ACWMA wants to reduce the amount non-disposable plastic bags being thrown to landfills that pollute the Bay’s water, which is why the County of Alameda is encouraging biodegradable or recyclable bags to be used in local stores.

“The new bags are environmentally safe for disposal and being biodegradable it won’t harm the environment as plastic bags,” said Patrick Dennis, Games Workshop employee, Stoneridge Mall, Pleasanton.

Unlike in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, which mandate all their stores to use environmentally safe bags, Alameda County requires only grocery stores or stores who deal with food to utilize disposable environmentally safe bags, while other stores which don’t sell food still use plastic bags.

“Non-food stores don’t have to switch, and still use plastic. Any store [that] carries food can’t use plastic bags, only in Alameda County. San Francisco and San Jose have the same law, but their laws are stricter than Alameda’s. They are not allowed plastic bags in general,” said C.G Storm, owner of World of Shoes, Dublin.

“Bay Area counties across the San Francisco Bay have imposed similar laws, except for Contra Costa County, to ban plastic bags,” said Alex Gonzalez, Trader Joe’s employee, Livermore.

Contra Costa County still uses disposable plastic bags in grocery stores, but the county remains the only one to continue using plastic bags.