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| Photo courtesy of Office of Council Member Brad Lander |
The bag distribution was part of a joint effort to encourage reusable bag use and educate shoppers about a proposed bill, sponsored by Council Members Lander and Chin, to place a 10-cent charge on single use plastic and paper bags.
“Local business owners across New York like Charlie Sahadi support a ten cent charge on plastic bags because they know it’s a good policy, and one that will not negatively impact their business,” said Council Member Brad Lander. “Each year, New Yorkers use 5.2 billion carryout bags—over 600 bags per New Yorker —and the city spends over $10 million on the disposal of plastic bag waste."
Charlie Sahadi said, “After careful consideration I realized that this is the right thing to do for my grandchildren and all future generations."
Our opinion: What will New Yorkers use for garbage bags? Plastic grocery bags are the perfect size to throw down garbage chutes. We think this is a give-away to the businesses, as shoppers will have to buy bags anyway.
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I was in Austin recently -- a city that has a ban on plastic bags -- and walked from my hotel to a pharmacy where I bought a number of small and large items. The pharmacy was out of bags to purchase and I ended up leaving the items on the counter. A ban on plastic bags will be another small fee and inconvenience imposed by a City Council that has nothing better to do than impose silly rules and taxes on residents and visitors. Pretty soon they will be adding vegetable waste to our list of recycling items. Who knows what is next?
ReplyDeleteBut they do have better things to do. They should repair our streets which are in horrible condition. They should eliminate the rampant cheating that is taking place in our public schools where students are graduating without the knowledge and skills needed to get jobs. They should spend time on Rikers Island and eliminate the unconstitutional conditions that exist in the City's jails. They should take some action to remove the homeless that are clogging our streets and subways and ruining the quality of life in our city. But those things would be really hard and it's much easier to pass silly laws.
Good points. It seems that Councilmembers know they can't do a thing about any of the really important issues -- can't save hospitals, can't deal with growing gang violence -- and so jump onto these little time wasters to make it look like they're doing something.
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