In Malibu, where single-use plastic bags were banned starting December 27, 2008, the City has staged “Day Without A Bag” to help people adopt more sustainable habits. “Our big concern is the behavioral change--we want our residents and visitors to take part in better stewardship,” said Jennifer Voccola, the City’s environmental programs coordinator. She said no local business opposed the bag ban, and the grocery chain Ralph’s was an especially great partner in “Day Without A Bag.” The store gave 25,000 reusable canvas bags for free to customers over a three-week period, according to front-end manager Daniel Scott. Other stores and chains are also moving away from plastic bags: Walmart expects to eliminate 135 million pounds of plastic bags worldwide by reducing bag use by an average of 33 percent per store (25 percent in the United States and 50 percent overseas) by 2013.

If and when all or parts of the OPC strategy are adopted by the Legislature and State agencies, less debris--especially less plastic--will enter the ocean. Still, what accumulates on beaches (some of it washing ashore from far away) and in watersheds will continue to make its way into the ocean. Beach cleanups are held to keep some of that out of the water. The Coastal Commission organizes Beach Cleanup Day every September, with volunteers working along beaches and up streams. In Santa Cruz County, the nonprofit Save Our Shores (SOS) rallies thousands of volunteers for these clean-ups--3,000 people participated in last year’s event. “It’s invigorating and intense,” said SOS executive director Laura Kasa. “The massive problem is the rivers, though.” On January 10, 2009, when SOS partnered with a Santa Cruz climbing gym, volunteers rappelled into Aptos Creek and collected 1,200 pounds of debris in four hours.

Getting rid of plastics in daily life won’t be easy. The OPC expects parts of the implementation strategy to be embodied in state law in the next year or two. Until then, reusable bags and cups are easy to find. Said Voccola, “This is really a stewardship issue--people need to stop generating so much waste.”

OPC implementation strategy: www.resources.ca.gov/copc/docs/opc_ocean_litter_final_strategy.pdf