If the goal of the plastic bag ban in New York is to reduce the amount of plastic we use, it’ll do its job. But, we need to consider the increased cost that consumers will have to face under the ban.

This past month, New York state lawmakers agreed to impose a ban on single-use plastic bags, becoming the second state in the country to do so. The ban appears to be a way to reduce the pollution of plastic bags on both land and water. This ban would also allow counties to opt into a 5 cent fee on paper bags.

Jomo Miller, a representative from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said in an email that a DEC report would answer all questions. The report said “Despite efforts by New York state to require recycling of these single-use plastic bags by certain stores, the problem persisted.”

The plastic bag ban is a case of unintended consequences. The 5 cent fee, which pays for the paper bags, assumes that everyone is privileged enough to afford that cost.

We can’t ignore that. Similar to how organic produce and natural products are more expensive, the use of paper bags will be the same. Also, plastic bags are versatile and reusable for things on your first grocery trip.

This ban is shifting the burden of environmental solutions onto everyday people rather than the wealthy people or large corporations who have a much larger footprint on ecosystems.

The plastic bag ban was not designed to be a law that fixes the pollution issue, but rather one that begins to chip away at it. Plastic waste is a huge issue and should be dealt with. Instead of forcing people to pay for more expensive, paper bags, corporations should make reusable bags more accessible to every consumer. That would make an impact.

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As it stands right now, consumers may very well just choose to pay the 5 cent fee for paper bags. In the case of the California plastic bag ban, consumers started to use plastic trash bags and paper bags, which create just as much of an environmental issue. While this ban takes away the option of a single-use plastic bag, it doesn’t discourage consumers from simply using paper bags once.

A plastic bag ban has good intentions, and this is an issue that needs our intention. But, the increased cost adds up. Plastic use and waste is too complex of an issue to just be answered with a ban.

Nick Turner is a senior political science and policy studies major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at nturner@syr.edu.

Published on April 17, 2019 at 10:25 pm