That’ll help poor people carry their groceries home…
Via TheDC:
New York lawmakers announced an agreement Thursday to ban all plastic bags in an effort to reduce waste and make the state as green as possible.
A ban on plastic bags will be included in the state’s budget due April 1, according to New York Democratic Sen. Todd Kaminsky, CBS New York reported. “The idea is to go not from plastic to paper but from plastic to reusable.”
The move is intended to encourage and force customers to bring their own bags to shop rather than rely on food and service companies to provide plastic bags to customers.
Most states do not ban plastic bags but require customers to pay a small fee, usually five cents, for every plastic bag they use. If the ban is implemented, New York will be the second state to outright ban plastic bags across the state, according to CBS.
California was the first state to ban plastic bags in August 2014. Hawaii also bans non-biodegradable plastic bags in its most populated counties, and the District of Columbia requires all outfits that sell food or alcohol to charge five cents for plastic and paper bags, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.