The State: S.C. Considering Ban on Plastic Grocery Bags

Plastic bags that shoppers use to carry groceries home from the store are an increasing menace to marine life and a general litter problem across South Carolina, say some scientists and conservationists who support curbing the use of the handy carriers.

Many sea creatures eat plastic bags, or the remnants of the bags, that get into the ocean, thinking the floating trash is food. That then clogs their digestive systems, which can kill animals or reduce their abilities to grow and reproduce, bag critics contend. Toxins in the fiber of plastic bags also threaten sea life, they say.

Without a ban or limits on plastic bags, the ocean off South Carolina will remain fraught with unnatural perils for sea turtles, shrimp and other creatures, according to the S.C. Coastal Conservation League and the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, two leading environmental organizations.

“Single-use plastic bags are a serious problem,” the Conservation League’s Katie Zimmerman said. “For the most part, they’re not a necessary product anymore, and they’re very outdated. But they manage to get everywhere.’’

Banning or limiting plastic bags, however, has plenty of detractors. Boosters of the plastic bag industry say industrial plants that produce the bags provide hundreds of jobs and pump up the economy of South Carolina and other states. And, they note, many people depend on the bags to carry an array of products bought at stores.

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