NYC Passes Bag Bill

Yesterday, the New York City Council passed a bill that would require certain business to collect a 5 cent fee on any carry-out bag, whether plastic or paper.  Opponents of the bill point out that it is highly regressive, hitting our poorest citizens the hardest. But, in San Jose, California, plastic bag litter in the city’s storm drains were reduced by 89% after passing a similar bill; in Ireland bag use fell by 94%; and, in China, plastic bag use was reduced by about 40 billion (yes, billion with a “b”) bags per year.  New Yorkers discard over 9 billion bags per year and, despite labels which may say something similar to “biodegradable”, most bags do not decompose or compost. And relatively few bags are ever recycled.

The driving force behind the passage of bag bills here in the United States is just one woman – Jennie Romer. After a successful effort to pass an anti-bag ordinance in Los Angeles in 2012, Ms. Romer turned her sights to New York City. She moved here four years ago with the express intent of getting New York City to do what it did yesterday – pass a bill requiring a fee for carry-out bags.  You can read this profile of Ms. Romer and her battles against the plastics industry in the May 2, 2016 edition of the New Yorker. It is a remarkable story of how a single individual truly can make a difference.