Why did it take so long?

San Francisco to ban plastic bags from supermarkets

It is about friggin time - this needs to happen across North America. The dutch had it figured out a while back - make people pay for bags.

Stores in San Francisco use 180 million of the plastic bags each year, and city leaders said moves by stores to voluntarily reduce that number have not made enough of a dent.

The city hopes the move will have a positive environmental impact. The bags are difficult to recycle and often end up in landfills or as litter. They can be especially deadly to marine life when the bags end up in the water.

An association of grocers has said the move will make shopping more expensive.

More expensive? Just bring a damn bag, for Pete's sake. Sheesh