You are reading

Queens Library Will No Longer Offer Plastic Shopping Bags to Customers

The Queens Library will halt the production and distribution of plastic bags, like the ones seen here. (Queens Library)

Feb. 23, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez

All Queens Library locations will stop handing out free plastic bags to its customers as part of an environmentally-friendly initiative announced today.

The library system is completely halting production and distribution of all plastic bags, according to spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon. All 65 library locations through the borough will take the free plastic bags out of circulation on June 30.

“We appreciate that plastic bags are convenient, but the consequences of convenience are too great,” said Dennis M. Walcott, CEO and President of the Queens Library, in a statement. “Plastic bags harm the health of wildlife, humans and marine life, litter our streets, sidewalks, trees, parks, yards and beaches and are costly to produce.”

The Queens Library began producing and distributing the orange and white bags over 20 years ago as a convenience for customers and to help the library build its public profile. The library system currently gives away 1 million plastic bags a year, totaling to 24 tons of plastic.

Environmental groups, like the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter and the Environmental Justice Alliance (EJA), championed the library’s new initiative.

Eddie Bautista, executive director of the EJA, said the library took “meaningful action to safeguard our climate”, in contrast to recent federal government actions that appear to roll back environmentally-friendly policies.

“We need more organizations like the Library and leaders like Dennis Walcott at the local level to continue to counteract what’s happening in Washington,” Bautista said in a statement.

In addition, Councilmember Costa Constantinides (D-Astoria), who also heads the council’s environmental protection committee, said the library is demonstrating environmental leadership in no longer producing plastic bags.

“Ending their use will help our city reach our goal of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050 and improve our environmental health,” Constantinides said.

Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), chair of the council’s subcommittee on libraries, said he hopes other organizations will follow suit.

“Plastic bags are highly detrimental to the environment,” Van Bramer said. “I am really proud of Queens Library for taking this step and leading the way on this issue which will have a major impact in New York City.”

The Queens Library spokesperson said the bags each cost $10.2 cents to make, for a total of about $100,000 each year. With the halt in production, the library said they will use the financial savings toward strengthening their collections, programs, and services, starting with increasing its electronic book collection.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

3 Comments

Click for Comments 
Tina

Yes! Reusable bags.Sell low cost bags,but make them in Queens! Bags keep the books in good condition.

Reply
Esther Berry

I’m very excited to learn thay the Library won’t be giving out plastic bags. However we need to still provide reusable bags for a low cost for customers. I can help with that I have ability to work directly with China factory to make these reusable cheaper bags at lowest cost possible and can also design the bags for free as part of my contribution.

22
Reply
migwar

I don’t think importing plastic bags from China is a very good idea, either politically or environmentally. (Unless, by “China factory,” you meant something other than a manufacturer of plastic bags that is located in China.)

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Flushing man arrested for impersonating ICE agent in visa fraud scheme: Feds

An alleged Flushing con artist was arrested by FBI agents in Brooklyn Friday morning after a federal grand jury indicted him for perpetrating a visa fraud scheme by pretending to be an ICE agent.

Tommy Aijie Da Silva Weng, 49, was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Friday afternoon on an indictment charging him with wire fraud, mail fraud, and impersonating a federal law enforcement agent in connection to a scam to defraud an unidentified Chinese citizen who resides in the United States by claiming he could help her in obtaining a green card through an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program if she invested $500,000 with him for a project to build hotels in California.

Woman’s body pulled from East River near Fort Totten identified as Whitestone resident: NYPD

The NYPD identified the woman whose lifeless body was pulled from the chilly waters off Little Bay Park near Fort Totten on Sunday morning.

Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing responded to a 911 call from a local fisherman who spotted an unconscious body floating in Little Bay along the East River at 11:15 a.m. An NYPD harbor unit brought the body to shore near the Cross Island Parkway and Totten Road, and EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.

Op-ed: The link between belonging and achievement 

Mar. 24, 2025 By Christopher Herman

No one can argue that it feels good to belong and we’ve all had that unpleasant experience of being the outsider. In recent years, research into the impact of belonging on achievement has drawn clear links between how included we feel and our academic performance. This is an under-acknowledged factor in schools when looking at why some students have stronger outcomes than others.