Oceanside, Island Park businesses and residents prepare for plastic bag ban

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Maria Siniscalchi’s Island Park business has several shelves stocked with boxes of plastic bags. They were purchased in bulk many months ago for use by her customers, but she will soon have to find another use for them, after a new statewide plastic bag ban takes effect March 1.

“A lot of our customers come in and request our big blue plastic bags because they use them for other things,” said Siniscalchi, who has owned Shane’s Family Variety since October 2018. “Most of our customers have other uses for the bags. They don’t just use them once.”

The store must stop using the bags, however, because Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Plastic Bag Waste Reduction Act into law last April to help protect the environment. State officials estimated that New Yorkers use 23 billion plastic bags annually, and nationwide studies show that about 50 percent of single-use plastic bags end up as litter.

“You see plastic bags hanging in trees, blowing down the streets, in landfills and in our waterways, and there is no doubt they are doing tremendous damage,” Cuomo said at the bill signing. “Twelve million barrels of oil are used to make the plastic bags we use every year, and by 2050, there will be more plastic by weight in our oceans than fish. We need to stop using plastic bags, and today we’re putting an end to this blight on our environment.”

Siniscalchi said she understood the reasons behind the measure, but noted that it would take time for her business and its customers to adjust. “It’s good for the environment,” she said. “We all care about the future of our children and ourselves, and for the animals.”

Under the law, businesses cannot distribute single-use bags unless they are used to carry food, bulk items like fruits and vegetables, newspapers, garments, prescription drugs or trash. The measure also includes a provision permitting cities and counties to adopt a minimum 5-cent fee for paper bags, but Nassau County opted out of that requirement. Local retailers now must decide whether they will charge the 5-cent fee for paper bags and declare the extra money as income. The law also encourages customers to bring their own reusable and machine-washable bags, but if they use their own plastic bags to shop, retailers are required to recycle them.

Siniscalchi said it would cost her business 17 cents per bag to distribute paper bags to customers. Rather than do so, she is asking customers to bring reusable bags from home, and she said a shop worker would help them carry out anything.

Calls to several other businesses in Oceanside and Island Park were not returned at press time. Island Park Chamber of Commerce President Barbra Rubin-Perry said she supported the reasons behind the ban, but was unhappy with the alternatives.

“It bothers me to see a tattered plastic bag stuck in a tree,” she said. “However, having to purchase and use paper is an expensive and not necessarily environmentally sound alternative. Paper bags only add a few cents to a business’s bottom line, but those cents add up.”

Rubin-Perry added that she did not think there was enough time for businesses to prepare for the additional costs, and that to effect meaningful change, a comprehensive policy tackling the use of other plastics is a must.

County Legislator Debra Mulé, who represents parts of Oceanside, said she supported the ban. “I was pleased that the plastic bags were banned, but I was dismayed that there was not a similar ban or fee on paper bags,” she said. “We really need to put a stop to it. It’s something that we can stop and we should stop."

The ban has been met with mixed reviews from residents. Jayme Zuckman Joseph questioned how sanitary it was to have residents bring bags from home. “How clean are some of these bags?” she asked. “Where are they stored? They go right at the end of the belt where everyone’s food goes. I’ve already seen lots of things that are a turnoff.”

Jo Pellegrino said she was not bothered by the ban, but she was concerned about paying for paper bags. “I think the ban is OK,” she said. “What I don’t like is now Stop & Shop, and maybe others, will charge for paper bags. I know it’s only 5 cents, but they shouldn’t do that. They never did this when they had only paper bags.”