organizations such as Heal the Bay

nderstand that they're very important," said Keaton Stagaman, a University of Oregon PhD student. "To always think of bacteria as the bad guy is kinda unfortunate." And because the bacteria aren't the "bad guys," you don't have to treat them as such.r capita in Ireland has fallen from 328 gned the ban into law, making Los Angeles the most populous city Hermes Shopping in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags. The law is similar to one adopted by Los Angeles County. Other cities in California, including San Francisco and Santa Monica, have adopted plastic bag bans. A statewide ban proposed by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, a former Los Angeles city councilman, was defeated in May.

 Activists from environmental organizations such as Heal the Bay say a ban on the non-biodegradable plastic bags will lead to cleaner beaches, storm drains, rivers and othbags a year, to just 20. In comparison, the EU average, according to a study by the European Commission, is approximately 198 bags. Early in November, the European Commission made it clear that it wanted to curb plastic bag waste in the future. Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik says EU states may completely ban plastic bags in future. "Plastic bags are a symbol of our throw-away society," Potocnik said. Bans alone however are not sufficient says Ellen Gunsilius from GIZ.

 "In many countries, awareness of the damage a Hermes Steveplastic bag can cause is often lacki Stagaman suggest you treat your bag almost like your winter coat: it's exposed to microbes everyday, but you don't necessarily need to wash it after every use. "If it starts to smell kind of funny, you might want to wash it," Stagaman said. "Other than that, there's not too much to worry about, really. "Just a standard machining machine cycle would be perfectly sufficient to sterilize the bags and eliminate any harmful bacteria," Guillemin said.