San Francisco Goes Greener, Bans Plastic Bags

Shoppers in one of California's biggest cities will no longer have the option of paper or plastic.

Instead, shoppers at grocery stores in San Francisco will be asked, "paper, or biodegradable, compostable bag?"

The ban is designed to clean up the hundreds of millions of plastic bags littering the city.

The change doesn't come cheap, however. The California Grocers Association says regular plastic bags cost a penny or two, paper bags cost 5 to 8 cents, and the special, biodegradable bags cost 10 to 16 cents.

It's just San Francisco's latest effort to go green.

Last month, city residents were asked to turn off all non-essential lights for one hour.

And earlier this year the mayor stopped the city from buying bottled water.