Municipalities across the country are passing legislation to either charge fees for plastic shopping bags or ban them altogether. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. uses 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year, which takes an estimated 12 million barrels of oil to produce, not to mention the fuel to transport them to stores. Statistics aren’t available on how many of these bags end up in landfills or our waterways.

plasticbagconfLegislator DeRiggi-Whitton speaks during a press conference about legislation supporting single-use plastic bag feesDuring a press conference held at the Nassau County Legislature on May 7, Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton and County Executive Laura Curran backed legislation submitted by Legislator Debra Mule that will require retailers to charge customers a minimum five-cent fee for single-use plastic shopping bags. The fee does not apply to plastic bags that hold produce or meat, newspapers or dry cleaning, for example.

“I am very proud to support this bill,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said. “It is terrific that Sea Cliff is one of the first villages in the County to pass this legislation. Five cents isn’t a lot of money, but will, hopefully, make shoppers think twice about wasting resources as well as their money. I urged the Majority Leader to call the bill for discussion. I am confident that it will be called in an upcoming meeting.”

"The Village of Sea Cliff wholeheartedly supports the Carryout Bag Law introduced by Legislator Debra Mule and advanced by Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton,” Village of Sea Cliff Trustee Dina Epstein added. “Enacted in Sea Cliff on Earth Day, our waterfront community has fully embraced this new law."