Capitola Plastic Bag Ban

Capitola City Council passed the first reading for their plastic checkout bag ban in December 2012 and a final reading is passed on January 10, 2013. The ordinance will go in effect on April 10, 2013. City Council delayed taking action on the issue a few times and some viewed this as the last chance for awhile to get a bag ban ordinance on the books. Environmental groups including Surfrider Foundation Santa Cruz Chapter, Save Our Shores, and Environment CA rallied and nearly all of the input the council received was in favor of the ban. The plastic bag ban vote was unanimous then council took the somewhat bold move of placing a 25 cent fee (instead of 10) on paper checkout bags as an incentive for people to remember their reusable bags.