Prepare yourselves, Bronxites, the state-wide Bag Waste Reduction Law starts March 1, barring grocery and retail stores from providing plastic bags to customers in an effort to reduce waste.

 “City residents use billions of single-use carryout bags every year, and they are frequently used for only a few minutes at a time,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia in a press release. “Plastic bags are particularly troublesome as contaminants in our recycling, as they often clog machinery, and we’ve all seen plastic bags stuck in city trees around the city. This is not sustainable.” 

To prepare, the city Sanitation Department is giving away reusable bags for free.

The new law, spearheaded by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, focuses on reducing the negative impact plastic bags have on communities and the environment. While they increase street litter and fill up landfills, plastic bags also pose a danger to wildlife in the form of choking hazards and microplastics that contaminate drinking water.

Come March 1, shoppers must come prepared with their own reusable bags, pay five cents for paper ones, or risk being stranded with an armful of groceries. Monies gathered from the five cent fee go back into a fund for providing low-income areas with reusable bags.

A clerk at Solalma Deli and Grocery off Webster Avenue supported the law, telling the Norwood News, “We do see a lot of plastics, so I do agree with it. It’s better to just sell the reusables.” When asked if she thought her store would sell the paper alternatives, she shook her head and explained that without any incentive it would be hard to convince the business owners.

Though it’s being called a ban, businesses don’t have to do away with all types of plastic bags. For instance, carry-out bags from restaurants, bulk-item bags for candy and fruit, meat packaged in plastic, and trash bags can be expected to remain in use throughout the state. 

When asked how he thought shoppers would react to the policy, a grocery store manager at the Fine Fare supermarket on East Gun Hill Road near Perry Avenue expressed doubts, saying, “I don’t know what they’re gonna decide. If they’re gonna bring their own bags or if they’re gonna buy the bags…Now that they gotta pay five cents I don’t know how they’re gonna do it.” He’s prepared the store by posting signs at each register to alert shoppers to come prepared. “They should bring their own. It’s better that way.” 

One Norwood shopper didn’t think the ban would do any good, stating, “I think it’s wrong, this ban. I think they should just keep it the way it is.”

The conversation on what happens next extended to Facebook, where the page for the Jerome Gun Hill Business Improvement District–which promotes the 200 businesses on Jerome Avenue between East Mosholu Parkway and East Gun Hill Road and East Gun Hill Road between Jerome and Webster Avenues– was filled with mixed messages. 

“It’s about time! Y’all are light years behind lots of states and metros in this regard,” said user Bry Conic.

Another user, John Dunkin, didn’t take the law seriously, saying, “Because [New York] doesn’t have any bigger problems to deal with. What a joke. If plastic is so bad then they shouldn’t be available at all. Now [New York] is just charging for what used to be free.”

Others expressed support, with Francine Ruh commenting, “It certainly helps the environment”, and Cila Arraiano saying, “Alleluia.”

The first consequence of violating the new law is just a warning. The second violation comes with a $250 fine, with following violations racking up $500 every transaction a plastic bag is used.

With March approaching, and with it the end of plastic bags, Bronxites should be preparing for the big change.