According to the group Clean Water Action, Californians use 19 billion plastic bags every year, costing cities, counties and the state millions of dollars to clean-up.
And many of those bags end up in the bay and ocean, endangering wildlife and polluting the waters.
"Plastics are accumulating in the ocean at dramatic levels and they never disappear," Miriam Gordon from Clean Water Action said.
The group is supporting assembly bill 1998, which would require retail stores throughout California to stop using plastic bags and charge for paper bags.
