A new law has taken effect on January 1st bringing tumult county-wide to Long Island. This law implemented a five cent additional charge for each one use plastic bag. The point of this law is to decrease the use of the plastic bags which will decrease the overall pollution. County Legislator William Spencer, a key component to passing this law, stated “Listen, bring your own bag — avoid the fee. Help keep this earth alive. This is too important. We have tried to do this for years.” As you can see, Spencer clearly knows that this initiative is an important step that will help curb pollution. Plastic bags can harm wildlife and cause clogging in drains which negatively affects both us and the environment.  

Only supermarkets and retail stores are required by the law to actually charge the five cents and in addition they keep the fee.  A local record shop Looney Tunes has a unique way of dealing with this new law that benefits both the customers and themselves. The record store still charges their customers the five cent charge per bag to abide by the new law, but instead of leaving the customers with five less cents in their wallets, they actually will in turn apply a five cent discount to any purchased item. In essence cancelling out the cost of each bag and leaving the customer feel as though they had gotten a deal.

Although the law may seems a bit silly it is a step in the right direction. Most people don’t bat an eye to the extra five cent charge on any bill. However at a supermarket where the customer is purchasing multiple bags that can add up to a significant price. Many consumers do complain about the charge though even after paying for it.

It was a lengthy process for Suffolk County to pass and put this law into effect. Hopefully, this law is only the beginning and Suffolk County continues to pass laws that are beneficial to the environment, especially since our population of 1.5 million on Long Island is destroying our most precious natural resources: the bodies of water surrounding us. This is only the beginning of something that will change the way we all live our lives and effect our environment.