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A proposal to ban plastic produce bags is allegedly tearing the Park Slope Food Coop apart, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The latest disruption adds to the market's storied, strangely controversial past—in 2008 they outlawed regular plastic shopping bags; in 2009 they proposed a ban on Israeli-grown produce; and a year later, high on all that banning, they challenged the legality of Barneys Co-op on Atlantic Avenue.
The article explains:
Co-op bean counters are at odds with the store's environmental committee (yes, it has one, as all businesses should), which is lobbying to stop freely offering the more than 7,000 plastic roll bags the store's customers use a day, and which end up in landfills.
The counterargument is that the elimination of those bags could get pricey, lead to hygiene issues, and push shoppers toward buying prepackaged veggies:
Other members say nixing the widely used plastic bags for a pricier non-plastic alternative will cost members more money, make it harder for customers to shop, and could present a hygienic issue for those who choose to protect their food with the plastic bags for sanitary reasons, according to a thorough argument against the proposal post on the grocery store's website.
For better or for worse, would the ban really be any more inconvenient than when they didn't accept debit cards?
· Park Slope Food Coop vs. the plastic menace [Brooklyn Paper]
· Eight Great Moments in Park Slope Food Coop History [Racked NY]
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