Barry Law Environmental and Earth Law Journal

I visited St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, back in October, and went grocery shopping, just like I did before I moved away in 2017. I got to the cashier, paid for all of my groceries and she asked me if I wanted to purchase a reusable bag. Annoyed, I said no, thinking, “why should I pay for a bag when I can get bags for free?” To my astonishment, the bag boy loaded my groceries into the cart, without bagging them. I inquired about this, and the cashier informed me that disposable plastic bags had been banned in the territory. At first, I was quite upset. I was thinking, “how in the world am I going to get all of this up to the third floor?” I thought about the number of steps I had to take up the stairs. I soon realized I would have to make more than five trips. I conceded and went back to buy some reusable bags.

While I drove home, I thought about this some more. Eventually I felt bad that I got so upset and annoyed at the ban. This ban could actually have a positive effect on the environment. I came back to Orlando and I wondered, “why haven’t we banned disposable bags in Florida?” This question led me to do some research. In this blog, I will explore the plastic bag ban and will discuss why Florida has not done so yet and will suggest a solution.

Ever heard the saying “Diamonds are forever”? Well, so are plastic bags. The thin plastic bags that hold our groceries, clothes and shoes after a shopping spree etc., are non-biodegradable. This means that they are not capable of being broken down by the action of living organisms. Thus, unless they are recycled, these bags will continue to exist.  Eventually, these plastic bags often end up blown into storm drains, rivers, lakes, the ocean, creating massive floating patches of garbage and threatening marine life. While some activists are screaming to ban plastic bags, another group is saying that banning plastic bags may create an even bigger problem. These activists argue that this ban would cause a skyrocket in the amount of paper bag trash and garbage bags used. Some even argue that in order for the reusable cloth grocery bags to be better for the environment than plastic bags, it would have to be used 20,000 more times than a plastic one.

Currently, there is no national plastic bag ban or fee in effect in the United States. However, states such as California, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have banned disposable bags. In lieu of a complete ban, several counties and municipalities have enacted ordinances imposing a fee on plastic bags. For example, Washington D.C. as well as adjacent Montgomery County, Maryland chose to implement a fee-only approach to bag reduction. Some US states, such as Florida and Arizona, have passed laws preventing local municipalities from passing their own bans.

Florida, in 2008, became the first state to preempt local plastic bag bans and fees. Despite this, several municipalities have attempted to issue plastic bag bans, however their single-use plastic bans seem to be rolled back as quickly as they are rolled out. Surfside, Palm Beach, Gainesville and Alachua County all moved to repeal their bans. While their position on the need to reduce plastic waste remains the same, they’re walking back policy to avoid a legal battle. The Florida Retail Federation, the lobbying group representing retail giants Walmart, Target and Publix, among others, all oppose plastic banning legislation, alleging that the bans violate state law and have threatened to sue the local governments.

The high volume of plastic waste is a global problem. It seems ridiculous that the state of Florida passed a law making it impossible for local governments to regulate recyclable materials. For the greater environmental good, this law should be repealed. That way, the local governments will no longer be bullied or threatened to repeal beneficial environmental policy.

Sources:

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/20/20806651/plastic-bag-ban-straw-ban-tax

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/09/711181385/are-plastic-bag-bans-garbage

https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/10/30/puerto-rico-to-ban-plastic-bags-through-executive-order

http://www.viwma.org/index.php/businessinfo/plasticbagban

https://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/plastic-ordinances-prevail-in-florida

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article234158642.html

Written by Tamika Jude, Associate Editor, EELJ