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Bring Your Own Bag

Ed Townsend - Columnist
Posted 1/27/20

It's getting closer and closer folks… March 1 a new bag waste reduction law will take effect in New York State and this will usher in new ways to bring your groceries home.

I can't see where …

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Bring Your Own Bag

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It's getting closer and closer folks… March 1 a new bag waste reduction law will take effect in New York State and this will usher in new ways to bring your groceries home.

I can't see where these standards will make shopping at retail stores more complex than it already is.

Remember when everything you bought got put into a paper bag. Now a new trend for trekking our groceries and other retail items home is about to greet us.

So the theme for those shopping days is simply… “Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB).”

From the significant recycling and disposal issues the negative impacts of plastic bags are easily seen.

Just remember to store your reusable bags in your car or store them in your house near the door or coat closet.

Remember that every time you use a reusable bag you are doing your part to prevent litter and waste. Using reusable bags makes sense and is the right thing to do.

Consumers can use any type of reusable bag such as one made of cloth which should be washable and designed for multiple uses.

If you forget to bring with you a reusable bag stores are not required to have bags available for free and may only have reusable bags for purchase.

Retail Associations have spoken out against the plastic bag ordinances and restrictions but supporters of the ordinances say plastic bags harm the environment and there is a need to ban the very thing that hangs on fence lines and trees and that's killing our wildlife and fish and is clogging up sewer systems.

Whatever happens I think my wife is far ahead of the trend as she has between five to 10 cloth bags with various logo's on them that she carts into the store (some stores give a discount for your own bags)… or consumers might consider getting their hands on some of the old burlap bags which certainly will create interesting remarks from store clerks.

Ed Townsend provides year around "Beyond The News"coverage in this column with over 60-years of photojournalism analysis and insight. The column can also be read on his Web blog at http://bght.blogspot.com

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