Plastic bag ban starts in South Lake Tahoe retail stores

The second phase of the South Lake Tahoe ban on plastic, single use carryout bags started Thursday, this time affecting the city's retail stores.

Grocery stores phased out plastic bags in the stores almost two years ago, with the official ban starting on January 15, 2014 after being voted on by City Council in October of the previous year.

In a hotly contested debate, the same City Council voted to postpone the ban for retail stores which was originally to start on October 15 of last year.

The City is looking for voluntary compliance by retail stores at this time and has no intention of immediate enforcement. On Thursday, Ross was still using the single use bags, but TJMaxx had already moved to paper.

The City of South Lake Tahoe Sustainability Commission first considered the initiative of banning single use plastic bags in 2008. The City Council adopted a Sustainability Plan in 2008, which included the development of “Zero Waste Policies” and promotion of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Practices” and adopted the Sustainability Commission’s Work Plan, which included the initiative. A work program was launched in 2009, which included community forums and public workshops in 2010 and 2011. Informal updates on the progress of the initiative were presented to the City Council during Commission Reports.