There's a debate going on at the grocery store: paper or plastic?

The Senate approved a bill Wednesday banning plastic bags from North Carolina stores.

State Sen. Josh Stein (D-Wake) said the measure would ban the bags in stores 5,000 square feet or larger.

"What the bill will do is prohibit the use of bags at retail stores. They would only use paper bags if they're recycled material," Stein said.

State officials said a small gas station would not be affected.

But Senate Leader Marc Basnight said this is must for North Carolina.

"The bags are a pollutant to the waterways," Basnight said.

Others, such as Fran Preston with the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, said the average grocery store uses 300,000 to 500,000 bags a month.

She said if this bill passes, the price of each bag will increase from about $.01 to almost $.08.

"This creates many consumer problems and expense. Most expense needs to be packaged back into the price of goods and that's a concern," Preston said.

Preston said the ban is unnecessary and says the key is to encouraging people to recycle the bags, plastic and paper.

"Ninety-five percent of our grocery stores have recycling bins," Preston said.

Shopper Korie Beck said she always has the environment in mind.

"Sometime the store says, ‘paper or plastic.' I say I don't have a preference because I recycle both anyway," Beck said.

But those for the ban say it will be the start of a greener state and more .

"I believe we need a change, not just in NC but in the world and we are leaders in the world," Basnight said.