Earth Day: Our County’s Plastic Bag Fee Law and How Plastic Pollution Harms Us

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Our County Enacted a Plastic Bag Fee Law and This is How People Reacted

Effective this year, in an effort to reduce plastic pollution, our county in Long Island enacted a law requiring stores to charge customers a minimum $0.05 fee for each plastic bag provided. The law’s goal was to encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags to stores instead of using disposable plastic bags. This law affected not just grocery stores (which many had wrongly assumed) but also any retailer that sold merchandise.

As you may imagine, the law generated lots of reactions from people. I’m a member of several Facebook community groups where this law was discussed. Though many people supported the law, others did not. Here’s a sample of some of the negative comments which all suspected ulterior motives:

  • This law is a scam! The local government is just trying to line their pockets by charging $0.05 per bag!
    (Fact: The retailer, not the local government, receives the $0.05 per bag revenue)
  • If this law is really to reduce plastic, then why don’t they just totally ban ALL plastic bags? They’re just trying to make money off of us!
    (Stores provide the option to purchase bags for those who forget to bring their own )
  • If they’re so concerned about the environment, why not just use paper bags? I don’t believe this is about plastic waste. It’s about them generating a revenue stream.
    (“Paper bags have much greater mass and weigh 5x to 7x more than plastic bags so they add 5x to 7x more tonnage to the waste stream for municipalities to manage. This, in turn, results in a fivefold to sevenfold increase in greenhouse gas emissions.” via AllAboutBags.ca)
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Prior to the new law, I carried reusable bags to the grocery store. I preferred them because of their strong construction. I could pack more into one bag, resulting in fewer trips unloading the car when I got home. The no-bags concept is not new. Costco and BJ’s have never provided consumers with bags.

Right after the law took effect, I asked cashiers how people were reacting to it. One grocery store clerk said a man yelled at her when he realized the bags were no longer free. At Old Navy and CVS, the cashiers said people who forgot their bags simply carried purchases to their cars. Now four months into the law, it seems people have adapted. It’s commonplace to see customers bringing reusable bags into stores.

Other parts of the country have enacted similar or even stricter laws. In 2014, California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags at large retail stores. Californians are surviving just fine.

So Much Plastic Pollution That Won’t Break Down in Our Lifetime

The stats are mind-boggling. According to EarthDay.org:

  • 300 million tons of plastic are sold each year and that 90% of that is thrown away.
  • Of the 9.1 billion tons of plastic produced, 6.9 billion tons end up as plastic waste. Of this, only 9% is recycled. 12% is incinerated, and 79% stay in landfills.
earth day
Source: EarthDay.org

Earth Day advocate and musician Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou notes the following in Multicultural Kid Blogs:

  • Humans throw away one trillion plastic items each day, and over 50% of those items are “one-time use” containers.
  • A “one-time use container” may live anywhere from 450 years (plastic bottles) to over 1,000 years (plastic bags) in a landfill or become part of a floating sea of garbage choking waterways of our green planet.

Plastic Pollution Harms Our Health

The plastics that we throw away don’t just disappear. They remain in our environment and negatively affect our bodies. Plastics that break down in our environment can mimic human hormones. Chemicals can leach from plastic food and beverage containers. Many plastics contain phthalates (DEHP) and the chemical BPA which can mix in with food on contact or when heated. These can harm our health, especially the early development of children.

Source: pixabay.com

According to Earthday.org, research has shown correlations between some of these chemical and increased health risks regarding:

  • Chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities
  • Impaired brain and neurological functions
  • Cancer
  • Cardiovascular system damage
  • Adult-onset diabetes
  • Early puberty
  • Obesity
  • Resistance to chemotherapy

Plastic Pollution Harms the Climate and Animal Life

The extraction of oil and the manufacturing process of plastic releases harmful gas emissions into the environment. According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition, these emissions include “carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, ozone, benzene, and methane (a greenhouse gas that causes a greater warming effect than carbon dioxide).”

plastic pollution
Source: pixabay.com

Plastic pollution in our oceans is so massive that there are five huge floating concentrations of plastics around the world. One is floating between California and Hawaii and is the size of the state of Texas. When marine life consumes plastics or the toxins released by them, it can kill them. Since humans eat seafood, these toxins can potentially make its way up the food chain to us.

“Scientists predict that if nothing changes in our plastic consumption habits, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish (by weight).” – EarthDay.org

What You Can Do to End Plastic Pollution

Make sure to download the FREE Earth Day Toolkit to learn how you or your organization can help reduce your plastic pollution footprint. Actions include implementing the 5 R’s:

  • Reduce – Reduce waste
  • Refuse – Refuse to use disposable plastics
  • Reuse – Reuse plastic items
  • Recycle – Recycle plastics
  • Remove – Remove plastics appropriately
Source: Earthday.org

EarthDay.org provides the pointers below on what you can do to lessen your plastics impact:

  • Ask yourself every time that you are considering buying a disposable plastic item: Do I absolutely need this? Can I use something else that I already have? Could I buy something that I can use long-term instead?
  • Prevent the creation of micro-plastics by properly disposing of plastic products and being careful not to toss plastic products near waterways, beaches or in open spaces.
  • Pick up plastic trash whenever you see it, especially in ponds, streams, rivers, and beaches.
  • Look up products on the internet and choose not to buy products containing microbeads. Choose products that have natural exfoliators instead.
  • Consider changing the way you wash your clothing to reduce the number of microfibers that are released, wash synthetic clothes less frequently, purchasing items made of natural fibers when possible.

For this Earth Day and every day, make a conscious effort to reduce plastic pollution. Your health and the environment will thank you.

 

 

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