Featured Letter: Let the county ban plastic bags
Burdensome expense
Charles Reichert, Southold
I also attended the Southold Town meeting 14 months ago and spoke against the ban of plastic bags. However, listening to the comments of residents against plastic bags, I gave away 4,000 reusable bags at our stores in Southold and Greenport. We find very few customers are using these reusable bags.
Forcing us to use paper bags puts us at a big disadvantage competing with the many food stores opening in Riverhead. They use plastic bags. Paper bags are expensive. The plastic bags we use are made of recycled plastic. We also take back plastic bags and send them out to be recycled.
If you want a law to ban plastic bags, then it should be a county law.
The author is the owner of the Southold and Greenport IGA stores
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Toxic non-action
Cecilia Loucka, Southold
It is with grave concern that I read in this week’s edition of The Suffolk Times the account of the last Town Board meeting where Supervisor Scott Russell stated that he would not schedule a hearing on the issue of banning single-use plastic bags. I watched this segment on Channel 22 and I heard him say just that. This is after townspeople, residents, conservationists, etc. spoke vehemently in favor of banning single-use bags.
Environmentalists spoke about the roadside bags being chopped up when roadsides are mowed, plus the fact that plastic in the salt water gets eaten by marine life. It has been shown that when people eat fish and shellfish they are consuming toxic cancer-causing petroleum used in the manufacturing of the plastic. The marine life is eating sediment contaminated with these toxins. And we are eating the marine life, thinking it is better for us. Remember, most shellfish are filter feeders.
How can our supervisor rationalize refusing to take this concern up with the Town Board after he received signatures from residents asking for it to be put to a vote? Plus, all the people who spoke at the meeting against single-use plastic bags.
Are the merchants such big monetary supporters of the Republican ticket? If that is the rationale, we are in the same boat as the circus taking place at recent political debates! Our wellbeing is not a political issue, or at least it should not be.
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Find a better solution
John Howell, Mattituck
About your comments on banning plastic bags: You stated environmentalists warn plastic bags can have a serious effect on local wildlife if improperly disposed of. Did anyone see the words “can” and “if” in that sentence?
People are the cause of litter and only people can make this a better environment. If Southold does ban plastic bags, then all bags, including garbage bags, should be added to the list. Why aren’t all plastic bags biodegradable? That seems like the best solution.
When they put the deposit return on soda and beer, do we still not see cans and bottles along our waterways and highways? Why?
I agree with Supervisor Scott Russell. Paper bags are not the solution to our problem, people are.
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