Group Wants Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 25, 2008 at 8:45 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi says a detailed report on trash in the ocean is on the right track to toughen state laws to clean-up the state's waterways and beaches. Garamendi was in San Diego th

Group Wants Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags

Cleaning Ocean Beach: Dan Jacobson with Environment California, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and Angela Howe of the Surfrider Foundation (left to right) pick up litter near the OB pier Friday morning. (Photo: Ed Joyce/KPBS)

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi says a detailed report on trash in the ocean is on the right track to toughen state laws to clean-up the state's waterways and beaches. Garamendi was in San Diego this morning to promote a ban on plastic bags. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

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Garamendi says state laws are needed to keep plastic bags, styrofoam containers and other material from polluting the ocean and state beaches.

It's estimated that plastic makes up more than 60 percent of marine trash.

Garamendi says a report from the Ocean Protection Council is an excellent guideline for new state laws to reduce that pollution.

Garamendi: And it sets out clear policy directions for the state of California to reduce and eliminate marine debris - trash on the beaches, trash in the ocean. And reduce the harm to fish, wildlife species and humans.

The report recommends a ban on single-use plastic grocery bags and polystyrene food containers.

Seabirds, mammals and other marine wildlife are killed each year from ingesting or becoming entangled in trash.

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Much of the proposed state legislation aimed at reducing marine trash failed to win approval during the last legislative session.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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