Nov 21 - New Jersey Introduces State-wide Bag Ban
Legislators in New Jersey have introduced a bill that require the total phase-out of plastic bags in large grocery stores by 2010 and require retailers to provide reusable bags. Terrence Dopp of the Boston Globe writes that measures to reduce the use of plastic bags have been gaining momentum:
Plastic bags, introduced in 1977, account for 90 percent of grocery bags in the United States, according to the statement by Conaway and his cosponsor on the measure, Assemblyman Jack Conners, a fellow Democrat. The bags end up as litter, take longer to decompose than paper bags, and harm wildlife, they said. "The statistics on the number of these bags entering the environment are absolutely staggering," Conners said.
California requires large grocery stores that offer plastic bags to recycle them. San Francisco and Oakland have ended the free distribution of plastic bags and the County of Los Angeles is considering a similar measure.
CAW and Plastic Bags:
- Learn more about Plastic Bags