Greenburgh’s Fee-based Solution to Plastic Bags
With agencies across the country considering banning the use of plastic bags, even Westchester County now looking at legislation to curtail their use, Greenburgh’s Conservation Advisory Council has come up with its own solution.
In a report submitted to the Town Board in late October, the CAC recommended a multi-pronged approach and a fee, not a ban, to discourage plastic bag use by retail outlets and their customers.
During the yearlong study, the CAC discovered that the environmental impact of paper bags (thought to be a possible solution) was equal to that of plastic bags, even though the visible impact of plastic bags is more evident – they seem to be everywhere.
The CAC also met with representatives of the major supermarket chains in Greenburgh, which indicated that paper bags created storage and possible vermin problems. The retail outlets were also concerned about the negative economic impact of legislation that was Town-based versus regional.
This led the CAC to view the bag problem as less about what the bags are made of but that bags are used only once. It was noted that not just in Europe but in large parts of Asia as well, shoppers do not expect the merchant to provide a carry bag for a purchase.
For these reasons, the CAC reported that the use of reusable bags is the solution, understanding that there are times when a reusable bag may not be available or the healthiest choice. “Therefore we recommend a fee for a one time use bag with exceptions for certain items [such as meat or fish, for example]. This approach should result in a very large reduction in the use of one-time use bags without imposing a situation where the shopper stopping on the way home from work without a reusable bag will have to juggle the purchased items in his hands or the ask the merchant to break the law,” the CAC report said.
The CAC also recommended that the Town continue to support and encourage educational programs provided by the Town and the Greenburgh Nature Center, and that the Town should monitor other communities to learn best practices.
