PLASTIC BAG BAN
Local businesses, shoppers prepare for elimination of single-use bags
CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. » Plastic bags will soon be a thing of the past, thanks to new legislation that will go into effect in less than a week.
Some New Yorkers have closets full of plastic bags they’ve collected over the years, but these stashes won’t continue to grow in the future.
Beginning March 1, retailers are prohibited from distributing single-use plastic bags.
The change will affect not only grocery stores, but clothing stores, home improvement stores and convenience stores too .
New Yorkers use an estimated 23 billion plastic bags annually — each for about 12 minutes — and approximately 85 percent of this staggering total ends up in landfills, recycling machines, waterways and streets, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
The purpose of the law is to encourage consumers to reuse bags and reduce waste associated with plastic bags.
With time running out before the new legislation is implemented, retailers and customers are preparing for the change ahead.
Price Chopper and Market 32, headquartered in Schenectady, has always fully supported the elimination of single-use plastic bags, said Mona Golub, vice president of public relations and consumer services.
About 18 percent of Price Chopper and Market 32 customers in New York state already bring their heavy duty reusable bags when they go grocery shopping, and that number is growing, Golub said.
However, more than 80 percent of customers currently use the provided plastic bags. “So 80 percent of the population is going to have to change the way that it transports goods from stores to home,” Golub said.
Meanwhile stores are getting ready for the switch.
“We’ve had to redesign the way that we order, warehouse, distribute, promote, sign, stock and pack bags for more than 80 percent of our customers,” she continued.
“Definitively, this law calls for change,” said Golub, who believes the law has noble intent.
Price Chopper and Market 32 stores sell reusable bags, mesh produce bags, cloth bags and hot/cold bags for customers to purchase. Heavy duty reusable bags, which have been a popular seller in recent weeks, are available at every register and cost 50 cents each.
“Our aim is to discourage reliance on bags that become garbage after one or two uses, and to encourage the reuse of heavy duty ones,” Golub said.
Paper bags will be available for five cents each. But, these bags raise their own host of environmental concerns, Golub said. “It’s much more economical and sustainable to reuse bags every time you go to the store, than it is to purchase more disposable paper bags.”
Healthy Living Market and Cafe, with stores in South Burlington, Vt. and Saratoga Springs, is a bit ahead of the game. In 2015, the company decided to eliminate single use plastic bags at all of their check outs. The decision was made to reduce the impact of single-use plastic on the environment, and to encourage reusable bag use by customers.
At this time the company also began incentivising reusable bag and container use by giving ten cents to customers for bringing their own.
Under the new legislation, Healthy Living Market will continue to pay 10 cents for every reusable bag a guest uses at Healthy Living. It will also encourage reusable bag use by charging five cents for paper bags at check out in both locations. These bag fees will be donated to two local food pantries: the South Burlington Food Shelf in Vermont and the Wilton Food Pantry in New York.
“Healthy Living has been a leader in environmental stewardship for years” said co- owner and CEO Eli Lesser- Goldsmith, in a press release. “While other brands were forced to get rid of their single use plastic shopping bags, we have been proactive in saying ‘no’ to plastic bags and in incentivising our guests to bring their reusable bags.
“This initiative will help us reach our goal of 100% adoption of reusable bags more quickly.”
Stewart’s Shops, based in Saratoga Springs, predicts the law will have less of an impact on its customers than supermarkets, because the bulk of its store sales are grab and go and do not require the use of a bag.
While plastic bags will no longer be offered at Stewart’s Shops in New York, the stores will offer paper bags for a fee of 5 cents each, or reusable bags will be available for 99 cents. The paper bag fee will be used to help keep the cost of the reusable bags low, the company said.
Stewart’s will also introduce a reusable insulated bag sometime in March.
“By adding a charge for each paper bag, our hope is to encourage the use of reusable bags, and in time, eliminate all single- use bags,” said Gary Dake, president of Stewart’s Shops. “We’ve learned in our feebased program in Ulster county, the 5- cent fee deterred bag consumption by 75%.
“While it is a shift in mindset for our customers to bring reusable bags, all of our shops will be stocked and ready with reusable bags for retail sale.”
Local business Troy Cloth & Paper, located in downtown Troy, is helping both retailers and shoppers prepare for the future. The company manufacturers customized tote bags for a number of businesses as a reusable alternative.
“We offer a variety of options,” said David Langer of Troy Cloth & Paper, noting that they are machine washable and durable. “Most of our customers buy our wholesale canvas tote bags in one of two weights and multiple colors.
“We also have the ability to source the cheaper reusable plastic ones, but most of our customers prefer the canvas bags because they use them for other things and they can be machine washed.”
Recently, the company has seen an increase in these types of orders from existing customers, and would like to spread the word of their products to new potential clients.
In its retail store, Troy Cloth & Paper has seen a huge increase in customers buying reusable bags as they get ready for the new change as well. The shop now stocks more than a dozen designs of six styles of bags.
Shoppers like Emily Menn, of Troy, love reusable bags, “especially at home improvement stores where caulk would poke holes and instantly shred plastic bags,” she said. “People who don’t want to bring their own bag are just lazy.”
For some shoppers, the challenge is remembering to bring their reusable bags into the store. Albany resident Laura Kerrone has been using her own bags at the store for years.
“The only places I’ve been forgetting them is non-food stores, but I’ve often not used a bag anyway, if it’s only a few things,” she said.
Blaise Bryant, also from Albany, likes the new law.
“We reduce our carbon footprint, have bags that will hold up better, we just need to remember to bring them,” he said.
For Barbara Kipniss, the news about the future bag ban has already been helping her remember them at the store.
“I think it’s great,” she said of the law, “and I’ve actually been starting to remember to walk into the store with them.”
Renee Burnell, of Hudson Falls, is a fan of reusable bags.
“They don’t rip and I can pack them super heavy for one trip,” she said, but she’d like to see even more change regarding how food products are packaged. “Think about how many products that are placed in the bags that are completely made of plastic, meat, bread, cheeses, etc.”
Most agree the bag ban is a step in the right direction.
“Doesn’t bother me,” Galway resident Geoff Patterson said of the new law. “We use way too much plastic.”
LOSANGELES(AP) » Kobe Bryant’s wife offered a poignant portrait of her NBA superstar husband and their daughter Monday at a packed memorial service for the two, who were among nine people killed last month in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.
Speaking at times through tears, Vanessa Bryant praised her husband’s devotion to their family as she addressed thousands of fans gathered at Staples Center to remember Bryant and 13-year-old Gianna.
“God knew they couldn’t be on this Earth without each other,” Vanessa Bryant said. “He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi.”
The service took place at the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for the final 17 seasons of his two- decade NBA career. Thousands of Lakers fans, many wearing Bryant’s jersey or team colors, attended the tearful gathering to honor Los Angeles’ most popular athlete and a global basketball icon.
The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo” with dozens of backup musicians. Alicia Keys performed Beethoven’s