Single Use Bag Legislation in NY

We New Yorkers love our beautiful beaches and coastal cities and communities, so why should we accept plastic bags littered all over the place? Plastic bags are one of the most common forms of plastic pollution found in beach clean ups and pose a significant threat to our waterways and our wildlife.  New York can reduce plastic bag pollution by passing a Statewide bill that place a fee on all single use bags like paper and plastic.

These type of bag bills have a proven track record of success in other cities and states, including Long Beach and Suffolk County in New York. Only four months after the Suffolk County fee took effect, 70% of the public are either bringing their own bag or forgoing bags entirely. Grocery stores in Long Beach, where the 5 cent fee has been in effect for over a year, report a 90% reduction in plastic bag usage. 
 
Plastic bags not sent to landfills are often put in recycling bins, where they clog recycling machines and cost recyclers time and money to remove. The Material Recycling Facility in Brookhaven estimates they lose over $100,000 per year pulling clogged plastic bags from screens on their machines. Bags that escape the garbage stream and end up in waterways and the ocean can choke and strangle wildlife.

Given the option to pay a small fee for these polluting, unnecessary bags or choose a more cost effective, sustainable, reusable bag, the public has overwhelmingly chosen to bring their own bag. Help us pass a bag fee bill in New York and stem the flood of plastic bags in our lives and the environment!