To the Editor:

Over the past year, many residents have discussed this topic at length, especially after the bag fee referendum question on the November ballot passed overwhelmingly in Princeton. The local papers have recently been writing stories about the importance of reducing single use bags in our community, in response to the announcement by The Princeton Merchants Association (PMA) that they are inaugurating their own “ABC Program” for the voluntary reduction of single-use bags. We are happy to see how important the business community thinks this issue is. We are pleased that they have taken some first-step actions towards controlling this global problem at the local level. It’s now clear that the residents and businesses agree that there is a single-use bag issue.

The writers of this letter have been leading the conversation about this topic. Our group has for years pushed for an ordinance to place a ten cent fee on both single-use plastic and paper bags, just as so many other towns, counties, states, and countries have done. The draft ordinance was also adopted unanimously by the Princeton Environmental Commission. As you probably know, voluntary programs have been shown to be largely ineffective in reducing the number of single-use bags in circulation or in waste streams. However, the first part of the draft ordinance called for an education campaign, and we are glad to see that the merchant group has started this part of the process. We hope things can be different in Princeton.

In the spirit of collaboration, we think the Town, the business community, and residents can work together to achieve the best possible outcome of this program — a truly significant reduction in single-use bags in our community, not just the recycling of bags. While recycling is one of the prongs of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” it is the third and least effective because it does nothing to curb production/consumption of new bags. Methane, a major emission in the manufacture of plastics, is also a primary contributor to global warming and its disastrous effects.

Thus, every attempt should be made to focus on reduction and reuse. Additionally, we hope the Town and business community will be very meticulous with their data collection to demonstrate a decrease in the number of single-use bags used in our community after the roll-out of this program.

Lastly, recent discussions have ignored the environmental cost of paper bags, which are actually more costly to produce and ship; they consume more energy. Our draft ordinance focused on all types of single use bags. This is a critical component. For now, if stores continue to give away paper bags, they should be 100 percent post-consumer recycled bags.

We again applaud PMA and the Town for joining with the residents of Princeton in recognizing the need for action on the single-bag issue, the plastic film overabundance, and the need to change from the status quo. We hope we can continue the conversation and document real change.

The Bag Ordinance Group.

Stephanie Chorney

Race Street

Daniel A. Harris

Dodds Lane

Bainy Suri

Chestnut Street