It's a one-two punch for the environment ~Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club

Under a bill recently passed by a New Jersey Assembly committee  ... residents will have to pay five cents for every plastic or paper bag used to take groceries home. The new program would begin June 1, 2017 ...the state would charge a five cent fee for each single use carry out bag.

According to a recent patch article  .... stores and the state Division of Taxation would each keep a few cents apiece, while the remaining 3 cents would be used to create the "Healthy Schools and Community Lead Abatement Fund" to fund water testing in homes and schools.

Only California has a statewide ban on the single use bags ...

At our home , we have begun using reusable shopping bags for grocery shopping and hopefully this will encourage more residents to do so ... My Wife and I keep them in our vehicles and have them when we pop into the grocery store ....

Some exclusions to the bag policy would include those 65 years of age and older ....

So what do you think about this proposed legislation ?

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