AB 2449, passed in 2006, required all grocery stores and other large retailers to accept plastic carryout bags (a.k.a. film plastic) for recycling. This law has expired. Moving forward, all plastic bags and other plastic film items should now go in the garbage.

Now that California has passed a statewide single-use plastic bag ban, it is easy to find alternatives to plastic carryout bags. Keeping a few reusable shopping bags around — and even some reusable produce bags — can help you avoid most disposable plastic bags.

Still have some plastic bags lying around? Use them to line small household trash bins or to pick up animal waste.