Seeing a Pitched Battle Over Plastic Bags - NYTimes.com
Posted on | November 18, 2008 | Stephen |
Seeing a Pitched Battle Over Plastic Bags - NYTimes.com
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced this month that he would push for a 6-cent fee on each plastic bag, both to raise as much as $16 million a year for the city in its economic slump and to steer New Yorkers toward greener practices — switching to bags they can use over and over.
Yet even those who agree with the idea say the weaning from such a symbol of waste could be particularly difficult, if not painful, in a city with New York’s quirks.
In interviews over the past week, many shoppers said the city’s largely carless, minimalist style did not easily lend itself to toting canvas or heavier plastic bags around like another accessory. Many also pointed out that the plastic bag is hardly a throwaway — indispensable, they said, for cleaning up after pets, camouflaging the smell of a dirty diaper, hiding an open can of beer or simply holding other trash.
“I’d have to buy garbage bags, which is more plastic again,” said Ellen Goldstein, 56, a painter and animator who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn
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