San Francisco bans plastic bags!!

Paper or plastic? Not anymore in San Francisco. The better option is canvas bags.

The city's Board of Supervisors approved groundbreaking legislation Tuesday to outlaw plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets in about six months and large chain pharmacies in about a year.

The ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, is the first such law in any city in the United States and has been drawing global attention this week. Mirkarimi calls plastic bags a 'relic of the past' and hopes other cities will follow suit.

Made of filmy plastic, the bags are hard to recycle and easily blow into trees and waterways, where they are blamed for killing marine life. They also occupy much-needed landfill space.

San Francisco will join a number of countries, such as Ireland, that already have outlawed plastic bags or have levied a tax on them.

BRAVO, San Francisco!