LA might be three hours behind, but they’re years ahead when it comes to plastic. I recently uprooted my life in Los Angeles to take on the Big Apple. It wasn’t the honk-happy cabs, the 10 p.m. dinnertime, or my new shoebox apartment that gave me the “city shock” during my first week. What shocked me the most was negligence of the simple task of utilizing reusable grocery bags. To me, it’s the norm, it’s a no-brainer, and for that, I say thank you, Los Angeles.
On my first trip to the grocery store as an official “New Yorker” I anticipated a few of the changes I would have adapt to—walking at least five blocks to the nearest store, carrying my bags back another five blocks home, lines, crowds, yeah, its New York. But, when I got to the checkout, I discovered a new change I did not foresee. Before I had even had time to pay, my items were being stuffed into not just a single, but double-layered plastic bag. I was laughed at when I whipped out my reusable bag, transferred my items, and gave back the two layers of plastic trying to salvage them for any of the other 100 customers in the store who definitely didn’t have “reusables” stuffed in their purses. When I handed the plastic bags back to the cashier, he told me to keep them, but I insisted. Meanwhile my new Chicago-native roommate laughs, rolls her eyes and says, “God, you’re so LA.”
Never had I been so proud to be from Los Angeles, never had I truly owned being “so LA.” Doing a little research on the “bag ban,” I discovered that "we" are more than 5 years ahead of New York. Back in 2011, large supermarkets in Los Angeles were required by law to stop using plastic bags and start charging customers 10 cents for recyclable paper bags if they failed to bring their own. Smaller grocery stores and pharmacies hopped on the train a year later in 2012. Other major cities who also embrace the bag ban include Washington D.C., San Francisco, Maui.. The list goes on.
What’s the big deal with plastic bags? There are huge environmental and financial impacts that accompany the use of the convenient, one-time use bags. Here are the facts-- The New York Sanitation Department reports that it collects over 10 billion plastic grocery bags in New York City per year. According to plastic bag ban supporter Reuse This Bag, one million birds and 100,000 turtles die each year from ingesting plastic bags, which resemble plankton and other sea life. Here’s one that will really remind you to remember your reusables: if every person in New York City used one less grocery bag, it would cut waste by 5 million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs. ONE LESS BAG. Imagine if every NYC resident used five less bags, or ten, or how about no bags at all.
There is hope for New York City. In May of this year, New York City Council voted 28-20 on a Bill to require grocery stores to charge a 5-cent bag fee. This is to go into effect on October 1-- enough time to start searching for the trendiest reusable bag. Councilman Brad Lander commented, “The fee is irritating, which is precisely why it works.” I say, well said, but we can do better. It is irritating, but is 5-cents enough to change ways? I’m not convinced. But please, prove me wrong.
I encourage New Yorkers to get irritated. Get irritated about the tax and bring your own bags. Get irritated at other shoppers who are not irritated enough by the tax enough to bring their own bags. Get irritated by the small changes that we can make to better the world in which we live, but fail to do so. The plastic bag tax shows us just how easy it is to alter our lifestyles in the most miniscule of ways to create lasting impact. It is a perfect demonstration of how convenient does not translate into superiority. It motivates and encourages us to be responsible global citizens and create change where change is necessary.
Thank you LA for making the change five years ago and thank you NYC for slowly, but surely getting it together.
