Should Pleasantville Ban Plastic Bags?

More than 60 plastic bags were found littered around Pleasantville when one high school student spent two hours scouring the village's streets.

That student was Cary Chapman, a PHS junior and one of the students who has teamed up with local group PleasantvilleRecycles to feel out whether residents and merchants would embrace a plastic bag ban.

Nicole Tu-Maung, a PHS senior who founded the school's Environmental Action Committee this year, said the proposed ban would only apply to retailers in the village, and only for certain products.

Deli meats and produce, for example, would be exempt, she explained.

"This is something that could really happen," Tu-Maung said.

Andrea Garbarini of PleasantvilleRecycles pointed out that other municipalities near Pleasantville, including three in Westchester—Larchmont, Rye and the Village of Mamaroneck—have already enacted bans.

And municipalities like the Town of Mamaroneck and Village of Tuckahoe have also looked into the idea.

"We find it important to educate the public about our efforts," Garbarini said. "Plastic bags are used 12 minutes on average and you bring them home and they end up in the environment for a thousand years."

But what's the alternative?

"What many people already do is bring their own [reusable] bags," Garbarini pointed out, displaying a variety of tote-like bags.

PleasantvilleRecycles is proposing retailers could offer paper instead of plastic to customers who don't bring their own.

Roy Solomon, co-owner of The Village Bookstore, wondered if garbage bags would be included in the ban.

"Those would be exempt," Garbarini told him.

According to Garbarini, 300 locals signed off in support of the initiative on Pleasantville Day last month, while an additional 100 have signed an online petition.

"We got pledges of support from most merchants," she added.

Village Administrator Patricia Dwyer said there has not yet been a formal application requesting the Board of Trustees consider the measure.

For now, PleasantvilleRecycles and the Environmental Action Committee "don't want to jam it down anyone's throat," according to Garbarini, but rather educate the public about the effects of a potential ban and gauge local interest.

But if the village were to enact a ban, "You really are going to be OK," she said.