Suffolk County Legislator Wants Fees For Paper, Plastic Bags At Grocery Stores
HAUPPAUGE, NY (WCBS 880) - If you are going to put your groceries in a paper or plastic bag, one legislator wants to put a 5-cent charge on every bag you use.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall On Long Island
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Suffolk County Leglislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher says it will help save the environment and encourage people to use reusable bags.
Adrienne Esposito, an environmentalist with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, says Washington, DC implemented a similar law nearly two years ago and there was a 75 percent drop in bag use at stores.
"Americans use over 100 billion plastic bags and only 6 percent of those end up recycled," she tells WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall. "A nickel fee placed on plastic bags has been shown, throughout the nation and other countries, to dramatically reduce plastic bag use by 70 to 80 percent."
Viloria-Fisher says her fellow legislators have been supportive, but she has received opposition from some state representatives who told her the bag pricing is like a tax.
What do you think? Think a fee will encourage people to use their own bags? Let us know below
