5/6/2013--County honored for plastic bag ban 

San Mateo Daily Journal 

Save the Bay is honoring San Mateo County with its Clean Bay Award for taking charge in 

drafting and implementing a plastic bag ban ordinance emulated by nearly all of its cities. 

The award, which will be presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors by Save the Bay 

Executive Director David Lewis, highlights an ordinance that underscores a regional approach is 

the best way to rid waterways of plastic, according to the nonprofit. 

“Many cities had talked about doing something for years, but lacked the resources to tackle the 

lengthy and complicated process of performing an environmental impact report,” said Dean 

Peterson, the county’s director of environmental health, in a prepared statement. 

All cities in San Mateo County and six cities in Santa Clara County participated in the EIR 

process. The county approved its ordinance in October and as of April 22, Earth Day, 12 San 

Mateo county cities have followed suit. The city of Woodside opted out of the ban. The cities of 

San Carlos, San Mateo and Redwood City will enact the bans at later date. 

“San Mateo County residents are proving every day that it’s possible to live with less plastic. We 

still occasionally forget to bring our reusable bags with us to the store, but we’re adapting 

because we know our environment is better off for it,” said Supervisor Carole Groom in a 

prepared statement.