Paper or plastic? If lawmakers have their way, the question will become moot.
Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) and Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Camden) have sponsored a bill that would make New Jersey the first state to ban plastic in stores larger than 10,000 square feet in area, such as grocery, pharmacy chains, and big-box stores like Target and Wal-Mart. According to published reports, if the bill succeeds in passing, retailers would have to reduce plastic bag use 50 percent by December 2009, and stop using them entirely by the end of 2010. Retailers would also need to provide bins to allow customers to recycle plastic bags as well as sell reusable bags.
"A serious environmental problem," Conaway calls them, "plastic bags take years to break down, they help fill up landfills and they take 12 million barrels of oil to a year make."
An estimated 100 billion plastic bags are used in the United States annually, about 332 per person.
Only 2 percent of plastic bags are recycled in the United States and the rest, when discarded, can linger in the environment for centuries.
According to the Blue Ocean Society, more than 1 million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die every year from eating or getting entangled in plastic. The group estimates that 50 percent of all marine litter is some form of plastic.
Yes, plastic bags are convenient but work to be more conscious by reusing them again as much as possible. In terms of paper bags, while paper recycles better than plastic, energy is still used to produce them, creating pollution. And some 14 million trees are chopped down annually to produce the estimated 10 million grocery bags used by consumers.
Another solution, and the best one by far is to bring your own bag. Many stores, such as Shoprite, A&P, and Pathmark, now sell reusable canvas or cloth bags, for about $1 each. These stores also offer 2 cents back for each bag customers reuse. Other stores are working to reduce waste as well. Ikea offers plastic bags, but charges 5 cents each with the profits going to charity.
With so many reports daily of the effects of global warming, taking steps to reduce and reuse our shopping bags is a simple thing we can do to help make the planet a better place to live.
