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Southampton, N.Y., just implemented a ban on thin, T-Shirt bags, the kind that are typically used in pharmacies and produce sections of grocery stores. Although this is a good start for Shouthampton, plastic bags in the check out aisles of grocery stores and retail stores will still be handed out.

More and more cities are taking steps to ban the distribution of plastic bags, but until all U.S. cities ban the distribution of plastic bags, there are actions you can take as an individual to help:

1) Bring a reusable shopping bag with you when you shop and decline the paper or plastic bags the store offers you at check out.

2) Take the stash of plastic bags you have in your home to a recycling center, or to a retail store that accepts the return of plastic bags.

3) Contact your city council members to express your desire to ban plastic bags. Find out if a ban is in discussions, and see if they can use your support.

To learn more about the life cycle of a plastic bag, view The Majestic Plastic Bag. The short video is a a mockumentary funded by a California non profit working to ban plastic bags in their area: