TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy implemented a statewide plastic straw ban last year. This year, he’s banning plastic bags from supermarkets, but in a plan that was about as well thought out as New Jerseyans getting a paper straw in a 64-ounce plastic cup with a plastic lid, served from a fountain machine that is made mostly with plastic most New Jerseyans aren’t expecting much success with the plastic bag ban.
That ban goes into effect on May 4th. One problem on the horizon is how people who get their groceries delivered to their are homes going to receive them. Will they get one item at a time? Will they have to meet the delivery person with reusable bags? Will they be served up in wasteful cardboard boxes?
These are all questions one New Jersey Senator is just hoping to avoid before it becomes a problem.
Senator Kristin Corrado has a plan to spare New Jersey seniors and families who have their groceries delivered from the cost and inconvenience of the single-use bag ban set to go into effect on May 4.
“Shoppers are the ones who will be left holding the bag,” said Corrado (R-40). “New Jerseyans who now rely on home delivery and curbside pickup for food have no idea how this will impact their food supply, or how much more it will cost them.”
“The grocers don’t have uniform guidelines, the Democrat majority in Trenton who pushed this legislation through without any consideration to the impact on residents don’t have an answer, and people are running out of time,” Corrado continued.
Corrado wrote the following in a press release:
Considering all the confusion, Corrado is proposing an answer with new legislation exempting online orders for home delivery or pickup from the ban, the most restrictive prohibition of its kind in the nation.
“Since the pandemic forced residents to find new ways to get their groceries, people have become hooked on the convenience of placing online orders and having bags delivered to their homes,” Corrado said. “Now that’s in jeopardy as grocers across the state are scrambling to find solutions to the pending bag crisis.
“Clearly, this was never a consideration when the law was passed, and until we have a better way to make it work under the bag ban, it makes sense to pump the brakes a bit and allow deliveries to continue as usual.”
Last month, Governor Murphy signed a law to give a six-month bag ban reprieve to food banks and charities that distribute groceries.
“Food banks had no idea how they could comply with the ban, either,” said Corrado. “This is what happens when a feel-good initiative gets fast-tracked without any consideration for the fallout or the unforeseen consequences.
“My legislation would provide a similar stay for deliveries and pickups until workable alternatives are developed. Right now, my constituents are telling me they are worried that extra charges will be applied to their orders to compensate for the cost of reusable bags that they won’t be able to utilize. Given the impact of inflation on prices, their concern levels are elevated.”