Merchants, Shoppers Adjusting To Reusable Shopping Bag Ordinance [POLL]

. Instead of disposable plastic bags, merchants are now encouraging their customers to bring their own totes for purchases.

To help out, Rye Patch gave away reusable shopping bags at Rye Country Store, 41 Purchase St., this morning.

So far, merchants have given the new ordinance mixed reviews. Most support the idea of reducing the proliferation of disposable plastic bags, but think the transition will be difficult for customers.

When Rye Sustainability Committee Chair Sara Goddard she reached out to clarify how the law worked.

"Essentially, any time a customer is required to carry loose food, s/he can contain it in one of these bags to prevent contamination or spillage, or have it wrapped, in plastic, if necessary," Goddard wrote in an email to Patch. "The law applies to plastic retail shopping bags provided at checkout. Naturally, it would be preferable for customers to bring reusable produce bags (such as those currently sold in a number of supermarkets) but when sanitation is a concern, the necessity of a waterproof covering takes precedence."

Goddard included specifications for plastic bags that are exempt from the new ordinance:

• Thin film, produce-type bags used for sanitary/spillage reasons (for example,
• to hold deli meats, cheeses, produce, soup containers)
• Garment bags such as those typically used by dry-cleaners
• Plastic bags measuring 28” x 36” or larger, typically used to enclose large items
• such as art work, architectural drawings
• Thick, large plastic bags made of durable plastic that is at least 2.25 mils thick