I am so disappointed to see that Foodtown’s response to the plastic bag ban is, in part, to sell bigger, thicker bags with even more plastic. A depressing tower of these bags sits at the checkout with a sign that says plastic bags are banned, yet these bags are being sold.
Even if these plastic bags comply with the letter of the law, they are out of sync with its spirit and intent, and the hopes of the people who spent many days in Albany to fight for the ban, with the plastic-bag lobby pushing back every step of the way.
I hope others will let Foodtown know its approach to the ban is disappointing.The intent behind the ban was to reduce plastic waste, to reduce petroleum use that furthers climate change and to make some effort to stop the plastic waste in our streams and oceans that kills fish, whales, turtles, birds and other wildlife.
Foodtown’s giant plastic bags are a sad failure to achieve any of these goals.
Heidi Wendel, Nelsonville
Editor’s note: The law allows stores to sell bags that are petroleum-based, including those made from polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene-terephthalate (PET), as long as they have a minimum life span of 125 uses.
