Letter: Now it’s up to us to reduce plastic bags in landfills

Graphic by Lori Deaton

According to the Sept. 27 Mountain Xpress edition, local jurisdictions banning single-use plastic bags are now prohibited from doing so due to a recent N.C. General Assembly act on Sept. 22.

This is a surprising turn of events in that the Asheville City Council has been bound and determined to ban plastic bags used in local grocery stores and other places of business.

What we as citizens can do now to minimize the number of plastic bags that end up in the landfill is to deposit our plastic bags at various stores that provide bins for this purpose. Such stores include Ingles, Walmart, Lowe’s, etc. There are a number of other stores that accept plastic bags that I am not familiar with. Perhaps someone could help out here.

— Meiling Dai
Asheville

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4 thoughts on “Letter: Now it’s up to us to reduce plastic bags in landfills

  1. Meiling Dai

    Lowe’s and Home Depot no longer provide bins for single use plastic bags.

    • Meiling Dai

      For your information, HARRIS TEETER at 136 Merrimon Avenue also provides bins for single-use
      plastic bags, as do Ingles and Walmart stores. These plastic bags are shipped to recycling centers
      where they are converted to outdoor furniture and other uses. Customers at all stores are
      encouraged to use plastic shopping bags instead of single-use plastic bags. to bag groceries and
      other items.

  2. hartwell carson

    Only about 5% of plastic bags are recycled. Most of the bags deposited in bins for recycling are thrown away, incinerated or shipped overseas. There is not good use for plastic bags, which is why the only solution is not using single use plastics.

  3. Hiram

    Until laws can be changed, it would be wonderful to see local businesses take the lead and simply phase this crap out. Locals should boycott bars that serve beer from single-use plastic cups.

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