By Donald Gilpin

If you’re still using those store-supplied, single-use plastic bags for your groceries and other purchases, then it’s time for a change. Start bringing your own reusable bags when you shop. “Get in the habit before the law officially goes into effect on May 4,” this week’s Princeton municipal newsletter advises.

The new law, signed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in 2020, is the most progressive bag ban law in the country. It prohibits grocery stores and other retail establishments from providing single-use plastic bags to customers. Also, grocery stores 2,500 square feet or larger are not permitted to provide single-use paper bags, and the law also prohibits polystyrene foam (known as Styrofoam) takeout food containers and other Styrofoam food-service products.

“I don’t think this will be a difficult transition for Princeton folks,” said Sustainable Princeton Executive Director Christine Symington, “because our community is already pretty cognizant of the impact of single-use plastic, and we’re supportive of the new rules.”

Symington mentioned two good reasons for the new laws. “The primary reason was to reduce litter,” she said. “Single use disposable bags often find their way into the environment in places where they are not meant to be. This will certainly help to reduce litter.”

She continued, “Also this is a step in the right direction towards understanding the full life-cycle costs of the goods and products that we use.  Hopefully this is helping us as a society to go away from a make-and-dispose culture towards more of a circular economy, an economy where we are extracting the most useful life out of a product before it makes its way to the landfill.”

In urging the public to get ready for May 4, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette pointed out the destructive impact of single-use bags. “Plastics pollution has become one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems,” he said. “Americans alone use some 100 billion plastic bags each year. While some of these bags are recycled, many end up in landfills and many more wind up as litter harmful to our communities, ecosystems, and wildlife. Sadly, these plastic bags get into our marine environments, killing fish, dolphins, whales, and other types of marine life.”

JoAnn Gemenden, executive director of Clean Communities Council in Trenton, emphasized the importance of shoppers developing new habits. “Remember to keep your reusable bags in a convenient location where you won’t forget them — and get used to using them, as we work together for a cleaner, litter-free New Jersey,” she said.

Symington pointed out that most grocery stores and other retailers will have reusable bags for sale. A list of vendors who provide environmentally-sound alternatives to single-use plastic bags and other banned containers can be found at business.nj.gov/bags/plastic-ban-law.

“We want to encourage, and businesses want to encourage, people to use the bags they already have,” Symington said. “Bring those to the store and use them. Businesses still need to provide reusable bags for people who show up without a bag.”

Sue Rushing, communications manager at McCaffrey’s Food Market, which has two stores in New Jersey, one in the Princeton Shopping Center and one in West Windsor, said that McCaffrey’s is recommending that shoppers either bring their own reusable bags, “which a lot of our customers already do,” or purchase reusable bags in the store. 

“We have reusable bags for purchase at checkout for 99 cents if they forget,” said Rushing. “We had a whole campaign of colorful, nice, reusable bags that say ‘Carry kindness.’ It reflects our ongoing sentiment, our new year’s resolution to be kind to each other and kind to our planet.”

Rushing added that McCaffrey’s has had signage in stores and on social media warning that the plastic ban will soon be in effect. “People in the Princeton and West Windsor area are pretty socially conscious,” she said. “I think everybody is in tune with this.”

Plastic bags that are exempt from the ban include woven plastic tote bags that many establishments sell at checkout lines; meat department bags that wrap uncooked beef, fish, poultry, etc.; produce bags to hold fruits and vegetables or other loose items; pet store bags used to hold live animals, such as fish; deli bags that contain sliced or prepared food; dry cleaning bags; pharmacy bags to carry prescription drugs; and newspaper bags.

Symington is expecting a smooth changeover for Princeton and the rest of New Jersey on May 4. “It may not be as hard as we think to get into the habit of bringing our own bags when we go shopping,” she said. “Once you start to do it, it becomes a habit.”