Nicole Kramarich of Roxbury, New Jersey keeps 46 bags in her garage. Brian Otto has 101 curtains, so much so that he’s thinking of sewing them onto blackout curtains in his baby’s bedroom. (So far, that idea has gone nowhere.) Whippany’s Lili Mannuza has her 74.
“I don’t know what to do with all these bags,” she said.
The pile of bags is an unintended consequence of New Jersey’s strict new bag ban in supermarkets, which went into effect in May and bans paper as well as plastic bags. Goodwill laws aim to reduce waste and single-use plastics, but for many people who rely on grocery delivery and curbside pickup services, orders come in sturdy, reusable shopping bags. increase. week.
More than a dozen states nationwide have restricted the use of single-use plastic bags, but only New Jersey has banned paper bags because of their environmental impact. The law also prohibits Styrofoam food containers and cups and restricts restaurants from handing out plastic straws unless requested.
Emily Gonyo, 22, a gig worker at Roselle Park, which offers a shopping service through Instacart, said she was surprised to learn that delivery companies had no specific plans to respond to the ban. almost said, ‘OK, do exactly what you’re doing, but with a reusable bag,'” she said.
Understand the latest news on climate change
Understand the latest news on climate change
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Gonyou said he uses up to 50 reusable bags a day.
Compared to single-use plastic, more durable and reusable bags are only better for the environment if they are actually reused. A typical reusable polypropylene bag should be used at least 10 times to account for the additional energy and material required to manufacture. For cotton totes, the number is much higher.
The purpose of the bag ban is to end our reliance on single-use plastics, such as the flimsy bags that were ubiquitous decades ago and made from fossil fuels and that can take years to degrade in landfills. to reduce. Of course, many never make it to landfills, instead being swept away by the wind, catching on tree branches, fluttering, and polluting waterways and oceans. Paper bags are sometimes considered a greener alternative because they are made from wood, a more recyclable and renewable resource, but they require significantly more energy to produce.
New Jersey’s ban, which applies to grocery stores over 2,500 square feet, encourages in-store shoppers to skip single-use plastic and paper entirely and bring their own reusable bags instead. The purpose is that.
But of course that doesn’t work for most online orders.
Over the last three years or so, there has been a significant increase in online grocery shopping in the United States. As pandemic restrictions have eased, some have returned to in-person shopping, while others have picked up new habits. About 6% of food and beverage sales are online, according to executives at retail advisory firm Coresight Research.
“There’s clearly a problem with this, and we’re going to fix it,” said Bob Smith, a New Jersey senator and co-sponsor of the bill. Smith said Congress would likely make an exception by amending the rules to allow paper bags for online ordering.
An Instacart spokesperson said the company has confirmed it complies with state laws and chooses the most cost-effective reusable bag options for its customers.
A major New Jersey supermarket declined to share figures on the percentage of customers who shop online and how many reusable bags they have sold since the ban. Although some can forget reusable bags on store pickup orders, the default for delivery is still reusable bags. He said he was asking people to donate bags.
Otto, owner of 101 bags whose baby’s bedroom is too bright, said he still plans to get back to sewing blackout curtains. “I don’t have time yet,” he said.
Lisa Bdesheim, owner of the 89 bag, joked that she was considering setting up a small box in her front yard, inspired by a small library that lends out books other than the bag.
Delivery man Kye Riddell said the garages of some of his older customers were piled up with bags. “We keep offering new bags,” he said.
Dr. Miller said the bag situation in New Jersey is emblematic of many environmental policies. “If we don’t pay attention to the unintended consequences of policies such as banning plastic waste, we could be playing a green whack-a-mole,” she said. “When we solve one environmental problem, we only create or exacerbate another.”
Some shoppers have found ways to bypass the ban altogether. Andy Ryder, 35, who works for multiple delivery services in the Glassboro area, never stopped using single-use plastic bags. Right before the bag law went into effect, she hid hundreds of thin bags to carry groceries to customers.
In an interview, Ms. Ryder flattered about the bag ban. The world has bigger problems to solve, she said.
Either way, for now, Ryder has found a solution that works for him. One of the stores she shopped at had a recycling bin, and when she found the now-prohibited single-use bags in it, she snapped them up and put them in a stash place. replenish the “I’m a bag hoarder,” she said.