This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

SACRAMENTO-

Tuesday morning, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 270 (Alex Padilla, Los Angeles), the legislation banning grocery stores and pharmacies from giving away single-use plastic bags, come July 2015. By the same time the following year, they will also be banned from convenience and liquor stores.

“A third of the state already lives in a place where there are no plastic grocery bags, ” Executive Director of Californians Against Waste, Mark Murray said. “So we know this is going to work. This is a policy that is going to spread across the country. This is just the first.”

Murray said Californians use more than 13 billion of these one-time-use, non-biodegradable bags every year. This law will eventually eliminate them.

As a result, shoppers will have to pay on average, $0.10 for a paper bag, or more for sturdier reusable bags.

Some are not too thrilled.

Shopper Larisa Pinigina has had to make the switch once before, and was not impressed. She said she would rather pay for plastic in the future.

“I’m from Russia,” Pinigina said. “We use reusable bags over there, and they charge kind of a lot for them. And after 3 or 4 timers, you need to throw them away. They tear, they break.”

Shopper Alex Adame came out of the same store with a full shopping cart with 15 plastic bags.

After July, that would be $1.50 added to the bill. He said he would rather save that.

“I think what I’ll do is not pay the $1.50,” Adame said. “Maybe buy a basket? Could be an idea or there are little carts you can buy at the flea market.”

However, some are not convinced these bags are only “single-use” bags.

“I reuse them inside the house, for garbage. So it’s not just for food,” Adame said.

“I bring a bag and put the poop in the bag and throw it away,” dog owner, Janet Ritter said. “I think that is a great thing. But what am I going to do with Henry (her dog)? I don’t know. I guess I’m going to have to go to ZipLoc bags?”

The American Progressive Bag Alliance claimed the law is not about the environment, and will lead to manufacturing job losses across the state. They said in a statement:

“We have taken the necessary steps to gather signatures and qualify a referendum to repeal SB 270 on the November 2016 Ballot.”

If they qualify, the law will be on hold until November, 2016.

“The threat of a referendum is kind of sour grapes on the part of the plastic bag manufactures,” Murray said. “I don’t know that those plastic manufacturers are about to spend 5 million dollars on a losing effort.”

But in case the group is successful in getting the signatures, many said they are ready for the change.

“They’re not outlawing garbage bags. Just grocery bags, right? So we’ll have to change with the times,” resident, Joe Cardella said.