Chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, plastic bags have got to go!” the Citizens Committee of New York City, along with the help of a group of environmentally conscious P.S./M.S. 34 students, gave away 200 reusable cloth tote bags within one hour last Friday outside the C-Town on Avenue C. They were led by Peter Kostmayer, Citizens Committee C.E.O., above left.
The goal was to help build support for a bill in the City Council that
would add a 10-cent surcharge for single-use plastic and paper bags in supermarket, delis and convenience stores.
City Councilmember Rosie Mendez, in whose East Side district the C-Town is located, says she can’t support the bill because of the extra financial burden it would place on people on fixed incomes, as well as those who must separate their food for religious purposes.
However, the Citizens Committee has obtained an opinion on the matter from an Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Aviad Bodner of the Stanton St. Shul.
“To the best of my knowledge, there is no obligation to separate milk and meat groceries, and even if one would like to do so, cloth bags would suffice,” Bodner said. “Moreover, my opinion is that Jewish halacha would support the bag bill, as well, since the purpose of God placing Adam in the garden of Eden, according to Bereshit [the first weekly Torah portion in the annual cycle of Torah reading] is ‘to work and to guard/protect it.’ It is a religious duty and obligation (for all of mankind — this was to Adam) to protect our environment.”
