New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) partners with the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC)
September, 2019
On behalf of New Jersey Clean Communities Council (NJCCC) and the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), please bring this to the attention of the governing body and the Administrator that we are excited to announce a new partnership between our organizations, the “Choose to Reuse” campaign to tackle the issue of single use disposal bags and encourage consumers to bring their own reusable bags.
As you may know, NJCCC is a statewide, comprehensive, litter-abatement program. NJCCC programs are funded by the Litter Tax paid by your local grocers and other retailers which generates roughly $20 million annually. About 80% of this funding is disbursed to municipalities and counties for litter abatement initiatives. NJFC is a trade association representing the food retail and distribution industry in the Garden State. For many years, both organizations have collaborated on various sustainability initiatives and NJFC has been a key supporter of NJCCC programs.
One of the biggest environmental challenges today is addressing disposable items, such as single use plastic and paper bags. This is why the NJCCC and NJFC have launched the “Choose to Reuse” campaign to educate and remind consumers about their options for sustainability at the checkout counter. Consumers can choose to bring their own reusable bags when they shop, reduce their consumption of disposable bags, and recycle their plastic bags.
To further this goal, we jointly support a uniform policy to reduce and eliminate single use plastic and paper bags through statewide legislation. Having the entire State bringing their reusable bags to shop will reduce waste and litter and would also provide a solution to the current patchwork of competing municipal bag ordinances that have been enacted or proposed. These ordinances have different requirements, definitions, and effective dates. This has created problems for retailers and town officials, and also causes confusion for consumers who shop at different retailers in different towns.
As we have noted before, many of these ordinances have been solely focused on disposable plastic bags, but disposable paper bags have a significant environmental impact. Not only is the carbon footprint of paper bags just as detrimental to the environment as single use plastic bags, but paper bags are substantially more expensive to produce and throw away, which drives up costs for consumers and municipal solid waste programs.
For these reasons, we hope that your municipal Clean Communities team will join us in educating consumers through the “Choose to Reuse” campaign, and partner with us on a uniform, statewide bag solution.
Check out the new website https://choosetoreusenj.com/ for insight on reusable bag activities.
If we can provide additional information, please contact Sandy Huber at
609-989-5000 or via email at
Thank you for considering the views of New Jersey Clean Communities and the New Jersey Food Council.
Sandra Huber
Executive Director
New Jersey Clean Communities
Linda Doherty
President & CEO
New Jersey Food Council