Los Angeles announces ban on plastic bags in stores

LOS ANGELES ”Paper or plastic?” will soon go the way of “thee” and “thou” for Los Angeles residents as the city announced Wednesday that it would ban plastic shopping bags from retail stores.

The Los Angeles City Council said the ban, designed to combat pollution and following a similar ban in San Francisco, will take effect July 1, 2010.

California state legislators are considering a bill that would ban plastic bags statewide by 2012.