Discussion for Ban on Plastic Bags Underway by Putnam Lawmakers

As some supermarkets move toward eliminating plastic bags from their inventory, Putnam County legislators are looking for an outright ban on the plastic shopping bags countywide.

On the same week Putnam lawmakers were nearing a ban of polystyrene products in county buildings, the county Legislature’s Health Committee is now exploring outlawing plastic bags that are constantly used in supermarkets throughout Putnam. Legislator Dini LoBue, who requested the item be put on the committee’s agenda for

its Feb. 11 meeting, described the use of plastic bags to be “egregious.”

She added while some plastic bags are being recycled, the problem continues to be a long-term headache.

“They’re never ending,” LoBue said.

LoBue and Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra rattled off several municipalities that have either enacted plastic grocery bag bans or are pursuing legislation including Westchester County, Hastings-on-Hudson, Mamaroneck, Rye, Westport and evTe:n7.5th”e entire state of California.

The ban would only outlaw plastic bags used at the end of the grocery store line, and not sandwich bags or garbage bags.

Scuccimarra said that about 73 percent of plastic bags are in the world’s oceans, harming wildlife and water quality.

Mahopac resident Jerry Ravnitzky, who is an environment advocate, noted there are over a trillion plastic bags used each year worldwide and a million plastic bags used every minute. Only three percent of plastic bags are recycled, Ravnitzky added.

“It really has become a terrible thing for our environment,” he said.

Stores like Trader Joes, BJ’s and Mrs. Greens are three companies that stopped using plastic bags, as mentioned at the meeting.

One skeptical legislator, Roger Gross, said while he understands the issue, it bothers him when lawmakers just start banning things, rather than encouraging residents to seek alternative bags to use.

“We start banning things, we should ban aluminum cans and bottles because they are littered all over the place,” Gross said. “Tires a major environmental problem.”

The Food Industry Alliance of New York, Inc. has also sent a memo to the legislature standing firmly against the ban. In the letter the Alliance sent, it stated, “Bans are drastic. They are the most extreme form of regulation that government can impose.”

Scuccimarra noted that just like the fight to ban polystyrene in county buildings, the legislation to ban plastic bags would be a lengthy one.

“It took a year for me to get styrofoam where we are today, so this is going to take awhile but I really think it’s an important piece of legislation for Putnam,” Scuccimarra said.