Louis Olachea thinks it would be great if Ventura enacted an ordinance like San Francisco's, requiring major grocers and pharmacies to quit using typical plastic bags.

"Then I won't see them flying in the air anymore," he said.

Last month, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 to require the city's largest grocery stores and major pharmacies to use either recyclable paper or compostable bags made of cornstarch.

Environmentalists say plastic bags pose a threat to marine life because ingested bags can block the stomach and cause starvation. Other countries have already worked to reduce the usage of plastic bags. Bangladesh banned them, and Ireland has reduced consumption by taxing them.

San Francisco Board Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who championed the new law, said the ban would save 450,000 gallons of oil a year and wipe out 1,400 tons of debris now sent annually to landfills.

Olachea recycles the plastic bags that stores in Ventura use, he said, but he prefers paper.

Jack Lester hadn't heard that San Francisco is on the verge of becoming the first city in the country to ban petroleum-based plastic bags in large groceries and pharmacies.

But if the idea moves to Ventura, Lester would be OK with that. "If it's good for the environment and not an extra hassle or cost for customers, I'd be for it," Lester said.

Bags number 180 million a year

San Francisco officials believe the idea will spread.

"It's definitely going to catch on," said Boris Delepine, Mirkarimi's spokesman.

Delepine said counties in Northern California have been calling to express interest. So far, there have not been inquiries from Ventura County, he said.

The San Francisco ordinance received initial approval from the board in March and final approval last Tuesday. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has 10 days to sign it, indicated he supports the ordinance.

San Francisco estimated 180 million plastic bags are distributed to shoppers there each year. Some bags are recycled, others blow into the environment and many occupy needed landfill space, according to the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

Every year, Ventura County sends to landfills about 30,500 tons of film plastic used to produce the bags, according to data kept by the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

At this point, the pending San Francisco ordinance is not a sweeping ban on plastic bags used by all retailers. For example, stores like The Gap and Home Depot won't be affected, nor will restaurants that bag carryout food. The ordinance, however, was designed to allow for expansion to target those other retailers in the future.

Ventura County out of luck

The California Grocers Association opposes San Francisco's ordinance. Its spokesman, David Heylen, said the ordinance will create more problems than it will resolve, and voluntary recycling of plastic bags is a better alternative.

The new bags would be compostable, but he said very few counties and cities have compostable programs to recycle those bags.

"Compostable bags can only be used in the compostable waste stream," he said. "Unless the city has a curbside recycling program, this ordinance doesn't make any sense."

If compostable bags get mixed in with the normal recyclable waste stream, they'll contaminate it, Heylen said.

That means Ventura County is out of luck.

David Goldstein, an environmental resource analyst for the county of Ventura, said that at this time, an ordinance like San Francisco's would not reduce the waste stream.

"The reason is," he said, "no facility is taking that material for composting."