Paper or plastic? Neither, please

This question will no longer stump me – wondering which is best for the environment. Is it paper, which involves forests cut down so I can carry my groceries home, or plastic, which will clog the landfills and create plastic islands in the oceans?

Thank goodness the decision has been made for me. It’ll now be cloth bags and boxes. Gov. Brown has made California the first state to ban single-use plastic bags and stores will likely charge a fee for paper bags. 10 cents extra? No way.

Finally, finally, I’ll have the incentive I need to remember the cloth bags I’ve stocked in my car for years, and left there forgotten while I’ve gone inside the store.

While I applaud the move, there’s a part of me that’s worried about how we’ll survive without these bags. Those single-use bags are always reused at home, either to line garbage cans or to pick up dog droppings. Paper bags are our recycle containers. Will I simply purchase plastic and paper bags to fill the gap?

This seems such a simple habit to break. Surely, California – home of so much innovation – we can figure this out.