You know that plastic bag full of other plastic bags you keep in your kitchen?
The one that makes you feel like you really have your shit together?
Well, sometime soon, it may be costing you a pretty penny.
On Thursday, The New York City Council approved a bill that will require merchants to charge customers 5 cents for each plastic or paper bag taken at checkout.
The bill, which Mayor de Blasio says he intends to sign, is an attempt to cut down on the amount of waste produced in NYC and push residents to make more environmentally conscious choices.
The city apparently goes through approximately 9 billion of these bags per year, the majority of which are not recycled.
Similar laws have been implemented in other U.S. cities such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Based on the results in these areas, the city feels that the law could reduce the amount of waste by 60 percent.
The bill would make exceptions for take-out restaurants, as well as residents enrolled in government food assistance programs.
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Not everyone is convinced that the bill will be successful, though.
The American Progressive Bag Alliance strongly opposes, insisting that the environmental results would be minimal, while causing significant and unnecessary costs for consumers.
We're hoping that officials can find other solutions for the city's environmental issues.
Trader Joe's is already a stressful enough experience before we arrive to the soon-to-be-dreaded "paper or plastic?" portion.
Check out Mayor de Blasio Wants New Yorkers to Boycott Chick-fil-A.
[via Reuters] [Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]