What You Need to Know About the NY Plastic Bag Ban Starting Early at Wegmans

There has been a lot of confusion and questions after Wegmans recently announced that they were going to stop using plastic bags ahead of the statewide ban. To be clear, Wegmans is just doing this a little earlier than every other grocery store in New York State, it is not just Wegmans going plastic bag free. We have seen a lot of questions and concerns from shoppers like “are there still going to be the produce bags?” “what if I don’t bring any reusable bags with me?” “what in the world am I going to use to clean my cat litter box now?”.

Staring January 27, 2020 all Wegmans will no longer offer single-use plastic bags at the New York state locations and will be charging 5 cents per paper grocery bag. There will be a statewide ban that takes effect March 1, 2020. Here is What You Need to Know About the NY Plastic Bag Ban…

Key Points

• Paper Bags will be available for $0.05 each
• You can still purchase and use re-usable bags
• Instacart orders will be packed in paper bags… customers may or may not be charged the 5-cent-per-bag fee depending on location
• Shoppers cannot bring their own plastic bags to stores
• There will still be usage of some plastic bags….
  for uncooked meat, prepared or takeout foods, bulk items, newspapers and prescription drugs

TIPS

Purchase enough reusable bags to keep handy. They should only be $0.99 at your local Wegmans. I would suggest keeping a few in your vehicle stashed away and maybe a few handy in your kitchen to bring with you. If you are like me, then you may forget so having extra in your vehicle will be handy! These are very durable and last a long time. Well worth the investment! I not only use them for groceries, but so many other things as well.

There are a couple reusable bag options out there that you can purchase as well. We have tried the Lotus Trolley Bags and the  Grab Bags and found them to be handy! You can also check out Amazon or maybe invest in some Thirty-One Bags.

You can even keep some of the more sturdier bags or small bins in your vehicle for extra stability when you are driving to help. I like to keep the larger bags I’ve gotten from BJ’s Wholesale Club and pack some of the odd objects in there to bring into the house.

Alternatives at Home

I know many of you use the plastic bags for other things at home like small garbage bags and other clean up usage here and there. It may be time to consider other options. They will still be offering garbage/trash bags. You can find them in store and online at Walmart for the 4 gallon trash bags that will fit in small cans like the ones you use in the bathroom or office. It may be time to start price comparing and finding low price points on these bags. You can also find a wide range of them listed on Amazon.

Another option would be to consider more green ways. I know we tend to go through a bunch of garbage in our household as do many others. My plan is to try my best to recycle even more. Like when it comes to what I need to use to put trash in. For me that’s taking advantage of the recycle bins our county gives out for free from the County Building, re using papers, and trying to cut back on wasting things. It’s a hard habit to break and the biggest issue may be what we are bringing into our homes. For me, downsizing the amount of waste I’m bringing into my will be a huge factor. It’s gonna be a hard switch, but I have faith that this is a positive change that we all will over come!

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