Baltimore moved a step closer to becoming one of the first cities in the nation to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and retail chains after the proposal made it through a critical City Council committee vote.

Intended to keep the hard-to-degrade sacks from winding up in waterways or caught on tree branches, the proposal would require large stores to bag groceries in paper or reusable bags only.

[Read](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.plastic16jul16,0,2182591.story “Read the Article”) (Baltimore Sun)

I bought groceries at a grocery store here in Salem this week and brought canvas bags with me. I gave my bags to the cashier, and she placed them in the bagging area. The bagger looked at the canvas bags and then started putting the groceries in a plastic bag. Before I could say something, the cashier told the bagger that the canvas bags should be used instead of plastic The bagger stood with his mouth open and asked several times if I was serious about using the canvas bags. Finally, he removed the groceries from the plastic bag and filled the canvas bags while shaking his head the entire time.