January 24, 2020 (PROVIDENCE, RI) – Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement today as Rhode Island legislators have introduced plastic bag ban bills in both the House and Senate.
“Single-use plastic bags are made from dirty fossil fuels and have no place in our daily lives,” said Amy Moses, Vice President and Director of CLF Rhode Island. “These bags wreck our climate and choke wildlife. More than half of Rhode Island’s population already lives in a community with a plastic bag ban. It’s time to pass a strong statewide law that stops this blight on our environment for good.”
Both bills would prohibit retailers from providing single-use plastic bags and include the critical language requiring reusable bags to have “stitched handles.” This language prevents thin plastic bags from simply being replaced by thicker plastic bags and is in numerous city and town ordinances thought the state.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
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