KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Speakers at a public hearing held by the Ulster County Legislature overwhelmingly urged lawmakers ban single-use plastic shopping bags.
Only three of the 22 speakers – including the head of the New York State Association of Convenience Stores and the store director of Shop Rite in Kingston – opposed the proposed local law, known as the Bring Your Own Bag Act, that is under consideration.
“This law would turn convenience stores into inconvenience stores,” said James Calvin, the president of the Association of Convenience Stores.
Steve Goodman, of Rosendale, said there are studies that suggest that, because people generally don’t clean reusable canvas or heavier-weight plastic bags after bringing home groceries, people can contract illnesses including E. coli and salmonella.
“Like it or not, we’re a consuming and disposing nation,” Goodman said.
Other speakers, however, said the plastic bags are a scourge to the environment and a ban is “long overdue.”
“We are at a pivotal point in time and we need to do something,” said Rebecca Carucci, of New Paltz. Carucci said that, as with laws banning smoking in public places, people initially might be annoyed by the law but soon will become accustomed to the change.
“Change is hard, but we must start somewhere,” she said.
Several persons who spoke at the hearing pointed to the pollution of the world’s waterways. One became emotional as she spoke about the discovery of more than 20 pounds of plastic bags and other plastics in the stomach of a whale.
Jeremy Cherson, a spokesman for the environmental protection group Riverkeeper, said plastic is the main source of trash collected in the organization’s annual Riverkeeper Sweep.
If adopted, the Bring Your Own Bag Act would ban the use of all single-use plastic shopping bags in Ulster County, would require stores to charge 5 cents for recyclable paper bags provided to customers, and would fine stores that violate the law.
As proposed, restaurants located outside of grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores or food marts would be exempted from the law.
The proposal now goes back to the Legislature’s Energy and Environment Committee for consideration.
