New York Needs a Plastic Bag Law.
You Can Help.
On April 23rd, Governor Cuomo announced a straight statewide ban. As Brad Lander stated in response to Cuomo's announcement, "A plastic bag ban with no fee on paper bags sounds good, but it’s bad environmental policy. It will not reduce solid waste, because it gives no incentive for people to switch to reusable bags. At best, it will lead to a massive increase in paper bags, most of which are not recycled. Retailers will be hit hard, since paper bags cost five times as much as plastic bags. When Chicago and Hawaii tried to implement plastic bag bans recently, stores simply found a way around them, giving out thicker plastic bags by claiming they were reusable. Chicago and Honolulu recently scrapped their bans in favor of a fee on all carryout bags."
We need a carryout bag fee, not just a plastic bag ban.
Last year, the Governor killed NYC's plastic-bag law. Now, he's proposing legislation that would nullify policies that have gone into effect in Suffolk, New Castle, and other localities across the state. To understand why a straight ban is bad policy, you can read this analysis by Jennie Romer or you can read the long list of 'cons' from the Governor's own New York Plastic Bag Task Force Report (page 20).
Here's what we're asking of New York Governor Cuomo:
- Commit to pushing for a state-of-the-art #BYOBag law statewide: Senator Kueger & Hoylman’s #BYOBag bill S7760.
- Or at least pledge to stop any new moratorium against bag laws so that New York City Council can comfortably move forward with a new bag law.
Here's how you can support the push for a bag law in NYC:
- Share the #VoteWithYourTote video with your friends and politicians, including Governor Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo)!
- Read more about the current proposed NY state bag law here.
- Call your elected officials - a calling guide by the Scientist Action and Advocacy Network about NY's proposed law is available here.
- #BYOBag to the store to reduce plastic bag waste.
- Follow PlasticBagLaws on Twitter for updates.
- Sign up for the PlasticBagLaws.org email list (in footer).
Follow BagItNYC on Facebook for updates.
Learn more about plastic bag laws with this Primer and other PlasticBagLaws.org resources.
Join/follow the environmental organizations below that are leading the push for a bag law in New York City:
If you represent and organization and would like to get involved, join the Bag It NYC coalition.