To date, eighteen towns in NJ have passed plastic bag laws. These range from a straight-up fee on both paper and plastic like in Longport, NJ to laws that only ban plastic bags like in Belmar Monmouth Beach, and Long Beach Township. But there is a third type of law, a hybrid, which places a ban on thin single use plastic bags, and puts a fee on paper and other types of bags like the laws in Bradley Beach and Hoboken.
It is this third version, the hybrid, that is best. Surfrider has created a Plastic Bag Toolkit to lay out the different types of laws; the pros and cons of each. But make no mistake we definitively conclude that the hybrid type of law is best. The Plastic Bag Toolkit will help you understand that this hybrid type of law is what will truly help change people's behavior and get them to bring their own bags.
Please check out this resource and get your Green Team, Environmental Commission, or Town Council to understand these types of laws before your town acts!
