News > Events > All Events > Albany County Public Hearing on Paper Bags and Plastic Straws

When:

July 23, 2019: 7:15PM to 9:00PM

Where:

Albany County Courthouse, Eagle St.. 2nd Floor

Help Get Plastic Out of Albany County

Restrict Plastic Straws

Enact Fee on Paper Bags to Go with Plastic Bag Ban

Testify at Albany County Legislature Public Hearing Tuesday July 23 7:15 PM Albany County Courthouse, Eagle St.. 2nd Floor

Albany County is considering two laws: one to require restaurants to only provide plastic straws upon request, and one to require a fee on paper bags.

Why Restrict Use of Plastic Straws?

Plastic straws are often littered, and washed into storm drains that empty into the Hudson River and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Plastic straws are one of the top ten contributors to plastic pollution. Plastic does not biodegrade. In the US alone, 500 million straws are used every single day.

NY has banned plastic bags – County needs paper bag fee

NYS has enacted a ban on plastic bags at retail stores, but left it up to county option as to whether to require a 5 cent fee on paper bags. Without a fee, customers tend to just switch to paper bags, which have their own environmental problems, rather than reusable bags.

Paper bags are made from trees. It takes a gallon of water to produce a single paper bag. The production of paper bags involves cutting forests around the globe which is one of the contributors to climate change. It also takes a lot of fossil-fuel based energy to transport paper bags because they are so heavy and take up a lot of space. Paper bags are recyclable, but they cost taxpayers to collect and take up a lot of valuable recycling collection space – reusable bags are more practical.