City Moves Reusable Shopping Bag Program Forward

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White Plains Mayor Tom Roach has announced the next phase in the City’s Reusable Shopping Bag Initiative, which is aimed at encouraging all residents to forgo plastic and non-recycled paper bags in favor of reusable shopping bags.

This initiative began last fall, when the mayor invited the large retailers in the City to meet around the issue of reducing the use of plastic shopping bags.

That meeting sparked a plan for an education and awareness initiative. The first step was a Reusable Bag Design Contest among White Plains High School students.

In May, Roach and Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona officially kicked off this initiative with the public announcement of Max Crawley’s design. At the time, Roach announced that the winning design would be printed on reusable bags and those bags would be distributed by the City and participating supermarkets and retailers as the next phase of the Reusable Bag Initiative.

Mayor Roach was joined at today’s announcement by Councilwoman Lecuona, representatives from Shop Rite, Stop and Shop, Target, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Market, as well as Citizens Campaign for the Environment, to discuss the City’s continuing cooperative efforts with the business community. These efforts are focused on educating residents and shoppers about the benefits of using reusable shopping bags and encourage everyone to make the switch.

Key to the continued success of this initiative is the strong cooperation and willingness to participate that the City has received from its partners in the business community. With their help, the winning design is being printed on thousands of reusable shopping bags. Shoppers will now have the opportunity to own one for free when they make a purchase at one of our participating retailers from Thursday, Sept. 27 through Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012, or while supplies last. The City will also distribute bags at various community events. This is another example of how the City of White Plains is forging strong public/private partnerships with the business community to affect positive change.

Councilwoman Lecuona, the Chair of the City’s Sustainability and Environmental Enhancement Committee (SEEC) said, “The mission of SEEC is to improve the environmental footprint of White Plains in a realistic and thoughtful manner to sustain a quality of life which is responsible, cost-effective and healthy. Reducing the usage of plastic bags has been one of SEEC’s goals for a long time and this Reusable Shopping Bag Education and Awareness Initiative is in perfectalignment with that mission.

“I predict that these bags will be the must-have item of the season for our residents,” said Roach. “Not only does the design convey the importance of using reusable shopping bags, it conveys White Plains pride as well.”

Some facts about plastic bags: In the U.S., half a million plastic bags are used every minute and each has an average life span of just 12 minutes. It is estimated that plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, if at all. And, that less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled.

Switching to reusable shopping bags reduces waste and litter, resultingin cleaner streets and waterways.