Even in some of the most remote wilderness areas of Maine, it's not unlikely that you might find a plastic bag snagged on a tree or meandering down your favorite fishing stream. Whether from a big box retailer or a mom and pop convenience store, single use plastic bags are everywhere. Some states are considering bans on plastic bags. Here in Maine, environmentalists and retailers are working together to encourage the use of reusable bags. Mal Leary reports.

Some grocery stores still offer the choice of paper or plastic, but there's no question that plastic bags are now the standard. Three years ago, the city of San Francisco passed the first ban on plastic grocery bags, and dozens of cities have followed.

Half the states have considered bans, but none of the efforts gained much traction until this year, when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hinted that he will sign a ban if California lawmakers pass one this fall.

Matt Prindiville of the Natural Resources Council of Maine says plastic bags are more than just an eyesore. He says they pose a serious waste disposal problem and can pose health risks because they breakdown in sunlight into smaller compounds that become part of the food chain.

"They break down into even more toxic, smaller, petrochemical particles and those can be injested by marine wildlife and all kinds of things, and so there is really a problem out there and we do want to see it addressed," Prindiville says. "And the fact that states are taking aciton and doing something about it and we're not an outlier any more shows that people really care about this."

Prindiville says the NRCM is participating in a voluntary effort by retailers to encourage Mainers to use reusable bags instead of carrying home their groceries in throw away plastic bags. Chris Jackson of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce was among the business representatives that opted for the voluntary effort instead of an outright ban or tax.

"I don't see a ban happening in Maine, and I think primarily because the last couple of years industry along with retailers and the environmental advocates have worked with the Legislature on the resuable bags working group," Jackson says. "They're rolling out a plan to implement more retailers using these reusable bags and I think the Legislature will see that as a really good-faith effort to get more plastic bags out of the waste stream."

Sen. Seth Goodall, a Democrat from Richmond, is the co-chairman of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee and he says a ban was under consideration in committee, as were taxes or fees on the throw away bags. But Goodall says that in the end lawmakers went with a voluntary effort, and a hard goal of reducing plastic bag use by at least a third by 2013.

"It's too early to have a conversation, in my opinion, in regards to banning plastic bags because we have a new program out there with a collaborate effort with the business community and environmental organizations," he says. "We have to see if that works, but it's always going to be part of the recycling conversation moving forward and that's a big concern for recycling, that is, for the Natural Resouces Committee."

Republican Sen. Chris Rector of Thomaston serves on the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee, which shares jurisdiction over the issue. He says lawmakers should wait and see if the voluntary effort can meets its target.

And he says there is another reason to hold off on a ban: "Plastic -- and I'll use that term sort of broadly -- plastic bags that might be made from cellulose products, for instance, that we might be developing through the university," he says. "So I think there's opportunities for us to be careful and environmentally sensitive but I want to be sure that we're not precluding what might be a non-petroleum-based plastic bag using plastic in its broadest sense."

NRCM'S Matt Prindiville says because his organization is supporting the voluntary effort to encourage reuseable bags, it would oppose any ban proposed in the new legislative session. But he says if the reduction targets are not met by 2013, and if other states do ban plastic bags, Prindiville believes there will be a push for a ban in Maine.