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MCC Daily Tribune

Green Tip - Bags, bags, bags!

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, (www.biologicaldiversity.org), the average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. According to Waste Management, only 1 percent of these bags are properly returned for recycling. So that is around 1,485 bags per family that end up in landfills or as litter. Up to 80 percent of ocean plastic pollution enters from the land, and nearly 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually.

How can you help? If you are getting your groceries bagged, recycle the bags once you are done with them--but not in the blue bins at home or at MCC. Most major retail stores (Walmart, Target, Wegmans, Tops, etc.) accept CLEAN and DRY plastic bags and product wrap for recycling. You can find the closest store that accepts the plastic bags by searching your zip code at the Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) or the American Chemistry Council. https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/recycling-bags-and-wraps/find-drop-off-location/

According to Monroe County's Ecopark site, to determine if a plastic bag/wrap is recyclable, try this rule of thumb -if you can put your thumb through the plastic and it stretches (also marked #2 or #4), it is likely the correct type of plastic film for recycling at major retail stores like Wegmans or Tops. Examples of items that are usually acceptable for recycling include newspaper bags, cereal/cracker box liners, dry cleaning bags, bread bags, zip-type bags (cut off the sliding mechanism), shrink wrap, bubble wrap, plastic shipping envelopes. Ecopark also accepts CLEAN and DRY bags.

New York State legislators have agreed to ban single-use plastic bags from retail sales (California banned the bags in 2016 and all counties in Hawaii have a ban). The ban would begin March 1, 2020. You can prepare for the ban by purchasing reusable bags or repurposing a cloth tote or bag you already own. Start using those instead of plastic or paper bags now!

Remember single use retail plastic bags don't go in curbside bins or MCC blue recycle bins. Take them back to the store!

Ann Penwarden
Sustainability Steering Committee’s Recycling Committee
04/11/2019