Dear Connecticut General Assembly Environment Committee,
Dear Senators Meyer, Maynard and Chapin,
Dear Representatives,
Please ban or tax plastic and paper bags at CT grocers
The facts about plastic bags are well known: they are usually not bio-degradable, most of them are not recycled, and they are probably used for less than one hour. The facts about paper bags are probably less known, yet they too are responsible for a high carbon footprint.
The average US household however may use 10 new bags at each grocer visit (mostly plastic bags). The reason for this is not that wedo not care about the environment. It is because we value convenience and we are not incentivized to stop using new plastic and paper bags at each visit to the grocer.
Not using new plastic and paper bags (either due to an outright ban or, maybe better, a tax) appears to be working well in places that had the courage to adopt these restrictions (most places focused on plastic bags): Los Angeles, CA; Westport, CT; Seattle, WA; Rye, NY; a few countries, mostly in Europe (Germany, Ireland etc). Truth of the matter is: people are smart and flexible enough to adapt to changes that make sense. After paying up for new bags a few times people will not forget to bring their own reusable bags or crates back to the store. It is as easy as that. Certain retailers such as Ikea or Costco are already not providing plastic or paper bags and consumers appear to not take offense to this approach.
Imposing such a ban (or tax) should not be a significant financial burden to consumers either, as grocers should in theory be able to lower costs in return of lack of bag use (the currently provided bags naturally are not free at all but the consumer generally is not aware of the indirect cost paid for these bags).
The current approach in Connecticut(which has only a few grocers paying back money to people bringing their own bags) is not widely known and as such not viewed as being effective.
CT would stand to gain in many people's eyes if it was the first state in the country to enact such positive change state-wide.
Dear CGA, thank you in advance for your courage.
Kind regards,
Updates
January 31, 2014
The momentum behind this petition is undeniable and the Connecticut General Assembly can no longer hide from our demand for a bag ban. We have reached a point where the Environment Committee has to acknowledge that we are done with their inaction on single-use waste.
8 Comments
I just wanted to add that as per the CT General Assembly Environment Committee Char Legislative Aide the decision about whether or not to raise such a bill will be made shortly (probably in the next week) so kindly promote this to as many as you can now! Thanks (I am the creator of this petition)
Please implement a ban or tax on bags- it would significantly cut down on landfill waste!
This makes so much sense!
CT doesn't need any more pollution. Banning plastic bags would be a good start.
Jute Beutel für alle !!!
Yeah, really true.
go environmentally!!!!
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Dear Connecticut General Assembly Environment Committee,
Dear Senators Meyer, Maynard and Chapin,
Dear Representatives,
Please ban or tax plastic and paper bags at CT grocers
The facts about plastic bags are well known: they are usually not bio-degradable, most of them are not recycled, and they are probably used for less than one hour. The facts about paper bags are probably less known, yet they too are responsible for a high carbon footprint.
The average US household however may use 10 new bags at each grocer visit (mostly plastic bags). The reason for this is not that wedo not care about the environment. It is because we value convenience and we are not incentivized to stop using new plastic and paper bags at each visit to the grocer.
Not using new plastic and paper bags (either due to an outright ban or, maybe better, a tax) appears to be working well in places that had the courage to adopt these restrictions (most places focused on plastic bags): Los Angeles, CA; Westport, CT; Seattle, WA; Rye, NY; a few countries, mostly in Europe (Germany, Ireland etc). Truth of the matter is: people are smart and flexible enough to adapt to changes that make sense. After paying up for new bags a few times people will not forget to bring their own reusable bags or crates back to the store. It is as easy as that. Certain retailers such as Ikea or Costco are already not providing plastic or paper bags and consumers appear to not take offense to this approach.
Imposing such a ban (or tax) should not be a significant financial burden to consumers either, as grocers should in theory be able to lower costs in return of lack of bag use (the currently provided bags naturally are not free at all but the consumer generally is not aware of the indirect cost paid for these bags).
The current approach in Connecticut(which has only a few grocers paying back money to people bringing their own bags) is not widely known and as such not viewed as being effective.
CT would stand to gain in many people's eyes if it was the first state in the country to enact such positive change state-wide.
Dear CGA, thank you in advance for your courage.
Kind regards,
Updates
January 31, 2014
The momentum behind this petition is undeniable and the Connecticut General Assembly can no longer hide from our demand for a bag ban. We have reached a point where the Environment Committee has to acknowledge that we are done with their inaction on single-use waste.
8 Comments
People will quickly get used to using their own bags and will forget about the inconvenience.
I just wanted to add that as per the CT General Assembly Environment Committee Char Legislative Aide the decision about whether or not to raise such a bill will be made shortly (probably in the next week) so kindly promote this to as many as you can now! Thanks (I am the creator of this petition)
Please implement a ban or tax on bags- it would significantly cut down on landfill waste!
This makes so much sense!
CT doesn't need any more pollution. Banning plastic bags would be a good start.
Jute Beutel für alle !!!
Yeah, really true.
go environmentally!!!!
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People will quickly get used to using their own bags and will forget about the inconvenience.