As of Monday, October 19, 2020, New York State banned single-use plastic bags. If you see a store handing out free plastic bags at the check out counter, please write a report to let the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation know so they can follow up to enforce the law.
This initiative is sponsored by Beyond Plastics.
Comments(2)
RLM says:
October 22, 2020 at 4:25 amHi there. As happy as I am that the plastic bag ban is in effect, I find this blog post to be very off-putting. Rather than calling the authorities, why don’t you have a conversation with the store? Do you know how hard it is right now for small businesses to stay afloat and your first recommended course of action is to file a complaint? NYC is a community – you can talk to people. My guess is that the person posting this also calls the cops when it’s too loud on their block – point being – without any real thought of the Potential consequences of their actions. A fine could destroy a business. Maybe they don’t know the law? Maybe they’re using up the last of the bags they have. Maybe they don’t speak English and then City has failed to provide notice in their main language. This is a community – help our small businesses out and have a conversation- educate them, rather than just immediately jumping to reporting them.
Sean says:
October 22, 2020 at 7:00 pmHi Rebekah,
Some NY stores may not be aware of the plastic bags ban. NY customers of these stores are being asked to report those who are still using plastic bags. Given that the law is not going to be reversed, there are solutions like selling cheap reusable bags. This ban has been circulating in NY for some months now. There are always adjustments when a new law is being introduced. What may be needed, is more help with communication in different languages and education. Reporting stores is needed to target them to become aware and compliant.