LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — With other communities around the state adopting bans on plastic bags, one Northampton County township could be on its way to something similar.
Lower Saucon’s Environmental Advisory Council on Tuesday discussed what such a ban could mean for local consumers and the businesses they frequent around town.
EAC Secretary and Councilwoman Laura Ray said she understood that Hellertown officials to some extent have discussed a similar ban, and collaborating with them only makes sense “because of how our businesses are so intermingled.”
She said it had been on the agenda before in Lower Saucon, but state legislation in summer 2019 prohibited such a ban.
That ruling expired in 2021.
“It’s not like you pass the ordinance in a week and the next week you’re going; it’s a process."Lower Saucon EAC Secretary and Councilwoman Laura Ray
Plastic bag bans haven’t appeared to pick up a lot of steam in the Lehigh Valley but have been on municipal agendas before.
Neighboring communities to the south in Bucks County, such as Doylestown and Newtown, have adopted similar rulings.
Larger cities such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also have caught on.
“There’s a lot of information that we could get from other areas to see the process they went through to get the public on board with it, to get businesses on board with it,” Ray said.
Implementing the ban, if later brought before township council and approved, she said, would involve a transition process to show shoppers the bigger picture and give time for businesses to properly offload plastic bags on hand.
“It’s not like you pass the ordinance in a week and the next week you’re going," Ray said. "It’s a process.”
Keep them handy
Some members said it’s really as simple as just keeping some reusable grocery bags in your car, in a similar way to how people kept masks handy during the dog days of COVID-19.
“I think the biggest thing is to convince people that this is manageable,” EAC Chairman Dru Germanoski said.
“It’s really not an onerous thing to deal with.”
“I think the biggest thing is to convince people that this is manageable. It’s really not an onerous thing to deal with.”Lower Saucon EAC Chair Dru Germanoski
A couple of members emphasized that a potential ban should also come with an education campaign, which would maybe highlight the advantages of reusable bags for not only the environment but also the consumer.
One popular grocery store chain locally, Wegmans, has done away with single-use plastic bags statewide since September 2022. It offers reusable paper bags for sale at checkout.
