With Earth Day approaching on Saturday, I decided to write a blog about plastic shopping bags. When I was in San Diego in November, the grocery clerk was telling everyone to start bringing their own bags due to what happened on Election Night.  A ban on single use plastic shopping bags was approved.  The goal is to prevent bags from filling up the landfills and polluting the waterways.

It's common to see New Jersey stores selling nice canvas or cloth bags, usually with a store logo or earth friendly wording on them.  I have purchased several and I try to use them when I shop.  The problem is I sometimes forget to bring them into the store and they don't do much good sitting in the back of my car.

In researching a bit for this post I learned that New Jerseyans may be affected by some pending legislation.  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, (http://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/plastic-bag-legislation.aspx) Beginning June 1, 2017, store operators must charge a five-cent fee for each single-use carryout bag provided to the customer. Exemptions: customers 65 years of age or older and individuals enrolled in SNAP, WIC or the Work First New Jersey program. Dedicates revenue from the fee to the Health Schools and Community Lead Abatement Fund.

I think the more we use the reusable bags, and the more we see others doing so, we'll all get into the habit.  Is that fair to say?  Have you been using the reusable totes or do you like getting the plastic bags from the store?

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