After years of discussion, New York finally stepped up to plastic bags. The law officially passed April of last year and goes into effect THIS Sunday, March 1st, 2020. That bag collection that’s been building up under your sink for months? Yup, that’s now illegal. You’re now in possession of NYC’s hottest new contraband.

Soon, plastic bag scalpers will be lining the streets in front of every Whole Foods. 

Don’t fret, bags aren’t completely out of fashion. Single-use grocery bags will be replaced with paper (or sturdier plastic) at 5 cents per bag.  Sure, a nickel here and there doesn’t seem like a lot, BUT it might begin to really add up during your big shop. As of now, those super thin green produce bags are safe, along with restaurant take out and dry cleaning bags.  Unless you’re a primo-planner, you can say goodbye to post-happy hour shopping. Lately, I’ve been trying to make a habit of keeping at least one tote bag in my coat pocket.

We’ll be dishing out some free totes to ease the transitioning pains. Enter to win through our Instagram below!

New York is the third state to enact a statewide ban, after California and Hawaii. Annually, New York residents use 23 billion plastic bags — most of which end up in our waterways. The goal of the ban is to reduce waste and eliminate strain on our landfill infrastructure. 

If you don’t want to slim down your bag in a bag sink collection, New York Sanitation has been giving out free reusable bags for some time now. Maybe it’s time to repurpose that Buffalo Exchange tote?