Twenty years ago, rising water temperatures, nitrogen pollution and disease wiped out the lobster population in Long Island Sound.
Lobstermen picked up and left, in many cases leaving their traps behind.
But on the floor of the Sound, tens of thousands of traps are still working, catching the few remaining lobsters along with other species.
It’s called ghost fishing.
A statewide ban that took effect last week was intended to eliminate single-use plastic bags from Connecticut’s checkout counters, but in response, Walmart has begun offering thicker plastic bags.
The bags, which the retail giant bills as sustainable, reusable up to 125 times and recyclable, are not prohibited under the plastic bag ban, because of their thicker weight. The State Department of Revenue Services defines single-use checkout bags as “bags with a thickness of less than 4 mils” — the thickness of the new Walmart bags. However, environmentalists say regardless of the weight, plastic is a real threat.
Environmental initiatives are among the lesser-noted casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some are losing ground temporarily and some may be altered for the foreseeable future.
A court-ordered delay in enforcing the state’s new ban on plastic shopping bags was prolonged when the court system, operating remotely, set aside all but essential cases. Some stores had refused to accept bottles for redemption, and recycling was suspended in some localities.
Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels
Elected leaders and New York State agencies, including the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and well-being of New Yorkers—we are very grateful for their continued efforts.
This public health crisis impacted the state’s ability to enforce certain environmental laws, however; as we “re-open” our state, it is imperative that we move to enforce laws that protect our health and environment. Laws to provide clean air, clean water, and healthy communities are as important now as ever.
In May, CCE joined with 122 organizations from across the state in calling on the DEC to do three important things:
Enforce the statewide plastic bag ban. While the law took effect on March 1, due to an industry lawsuit, the state extended the start date of enforcing the bag ban until at least June 15. There is no need to delay this any further—the DEC should implement the plastic bag ban as soon as possible.
Inform stores that they cannot prohibit people from using their own reusable bags. CCE has received numerous reports that some stores prohibit consumers from using reusable bags. Reusable bags remain an environmentally friendly, safe, and cost-effective option for the public to use when shopping at the store. Currently, there is no credible peer-reviewed scientific evidence to support the claim that reusable bags contribute to the transmission of COVID-19. Retail employees may ask consumers to pack their own groceries in reusable bags out of an abundance of caution.
Enforce the Bottle Bill*. Adopted in 1982, the Bottle Bill has served as one of NY’s most successful environmental laws. The five-cent deposit on beverage containers has increased recycling, reduced litter, created jobs, and saved energy and natural resources. Like other bottle deposit states, NY relaxed enforcement to help struggling retail establishments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension was not due to public health concerns—the DEC states “there is no evidence that suggests that management of residential wastes or recyclables, including returned containers through the Bottle Bill, represents a danger to the public.” Like other bottle deposit states are doing, New York should re-start enforcement as soon as possible.
*Update: As of June 3, 2020, the New York State DEC reinstated enforcement of the Bottle Bill! If you see covered retail establishments that are out of compliance and not taking back deposit bottles, please let the DEC know by emailing nybottle@dec.ny.gov .
Thank you for taking action!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at CCE
For immediate release:
Friday, March 27, 2020
For more information contact:
Louis Rosado Burch, Connecticut Program Director- 475.434.1606 (mobile), lburch@citizenscampaign.org
Hamden, CT- Governor Ned Lamont signed an executive order suspending Connecticut’s 10 cent fee on plastic bags yesterday, in response to the plastic industry promoting fears about the use of reusable bags.
Connecticut’s bag fee has successfully curbed plastic pollution and encouraged reusable bag use across the state, making Connecticut a national leader on protecting our water from plastic pollution. The announcement comes as the plastic industry presses states and the federal government to outlaw reusable bags as a way to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The EO clarified that reusable bags would not be prohibited as part of this initiative.
Louis Rosado Burch, CT Program Director for Citizens Campaign for the Environment, issued the following statement:
“The decision to suspend the 10 cent fee on single-use plastic bags is based on political science, not public health science. Incentivizing a return to polluting, disposable plastic bags will do nothing to protect public health. This is a time to base policy decisions on good science, and not succumb to the plastic industry’s efforts to capitalize on this pandemic for their own benefit.
Research shows that viruses last longer on non-porous surfaces like plastic than they do on fabrics and paper. Single-use plastic bags are handled multiple times before they are used to pack groceries, and are in no way sterile or resistant to viruses and bacteria. In fact, the irony is that the plastic bag industry is condemning reusable bags made of plastic while praising their bags, also made of plastic.
The good news is that the EO does not prohibit the public from continuing to bring their own bags in Connecticut. In truth, there is no peer reviewed scientific evidence to support the claim that reusable bags contribute to the transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
This effort is more nefarious than it seems. Behind the scenes, plastics industry lobbyists in Connecticut and around the country are fighting hard to capitalize on this stressful crisis to undo the recent wave of plastic bag bans and fees that have swept the U.S. creating measurable changes in public behavior. Their actions are about profits, not health. If the industry cares about public health, they should not be promoting disposable plastic bags. In the end, this is little more than a shocking and heartless effort to capitalize on a pandemic to promote wasteful and environmentally harmful plastic bags.”
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At a Stop & Shop on New Park Avenue in Hartford on a recent Tuesday morning, Althea Lockhart, 62, carried her groceries out of the store in a reusable bag.
“I have about 50 of them," she said.
That may be the simple and somewhat unexpected result of Connecticut’s 10-cent fee on single-use plastic bags, which was expected to raise $27.7 million in revenue this fiscal year.
While the ban on single-use plastic bags in New York State begins in March, a Westchester town is taking the initiative and will begin a town-wide ban beginning next month.
Beginning on Sunday, Dec. 1, the Town of Mamaroneck will institute a ban on single-use bags and a 5-cent tax on paper bags in local stores, after the Town Board passed the “Mamaroneck Bag Waste Reduction Law.”
