By Ellen Edwards, Chair, Bronxville Green Committee

Feb. 12, 2020: As if I didn’t already have enough to worry about, starting on March 1st single-use plastic bags will be banned in Bronxville. Not just in Bronxville, but in the entire state of New York. 

How am I supposed to lug home all my stuff?  

Everyone agrees plastic bags are bad news for the environment. We’re supposed to recycle them in bins in front of large retail stores and most grocery stores, but apparently, many of us don’t do that.  

So, often they end up where they’re not supposed to be—stuck in trees, clogging storm drains and sewers, and eventually entering the Bronx River and floating into the ocean.  

We’ve all seen the scenes of landscapes and beaches littered with plastic, and of land animals and marine life suffering the consequences.  

Yes, all that’s bad, but it’s so easy to carry home my groceries in plastic bags. They’re light, compact. I don’t want to give them up. Besides, how bad can they be?

Bad enough, apparently, because people in New York State use 23 billion of them each year.  

Thinking about that makes my head hurt. Maybe I’ll switch to paper.

But wait a minute. 

Paper, I’m told, is not necessarily an environmentally friendly alternative. Yes, the trees they’re made from are a renewable resource, but manufacturing and trucking the bags has a big environmental impact.  

And paper is much bulkier—one truck full of plastic bags is equal to seven trucks full of paper bags. Plus, it’s possible Westchester will join New York City and other counties and decide to impose a five cents fee for every paper bag; the decision hasn’t been made yet, but it could happen. Who wants to pay for bags—not me!

You know where this is going, right? Reusable bags are the most sensible, environmentally-friendly choice.  

Ugh, do I have to? All those mismatched cloth bags cluttering my car, getting tangled up in my purse straps or hanging from my shoulder. I’ll never remember them. 

When I’m half-way to Acme, I’ll realize they’re still hanging in my coat closet and will be forced to turn back. As I enter the store, I’ll realize I’ve left them in my trunk. The whole village will be running back and forth to get the bags.

Still, the bag ban is coming! I’m trapped, with no good alternatives except to start bringing cloth bags wherever I go. I’ll bring them to the pet store and florist, to the drug store and bakery, to buy shoes and books. I’ll bring them here and there and everywhere. I won’t like it, but I’ll do it. Already I hate my bags.

Sometime After March 1st - - How I'll fee about my own bags

I love my bags. None of them match, but each serves its purchase, and together, they’re my team. Occasionally I forget to bring them, but mostly I remember. And I feel so good every time I carry home my purchases in my own bags.  

Since the ban started, I’ve learned that there are many exemptions. My dry cleaning and newspapers still come in plastic. I still buy bags specifically sold as trash bags. 

Take-out and take-home from restaurants often comes in plastic. But mostly, it’s easier to bring my own bags everywhere than to remember who can give out plastic and who can’t.  

And you know what? Now I always remember to recycle the plastic bags that do come into my possession. 

Into those bins in front of big retailers and grocery stores they go—dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves…every kind of “thin” plastic, including bread bags and cling wrap and other shrink wrap. 

I’ve survived the ban! I’ve successfully adopted a healthful habit! I’m doing something good for the earth! 

In fact, it wasn’t even all that hard.

Photo courtesy Bronxville Green Committee

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