Pa. lawmaker offers his 2 cents on plan to cut down on plastic bags

 A Pa. lawmaker is proposing a 2-cent surcharge on every plastic bag issued in Pennsylvania stores. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo, file)

A Pa. lawmaker is proposing a 2-cent surcharge on every plastic bag issued in Pennsylvania stores. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo, file)

A Pennsylvania lawmaker says plastic shopping bags shouldn’t be handed out for free. 

State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, says plastic bags are creating a major problem for the environment.

“When you use a plastic bag to run an errand, the errand takes about 30 minutes,” he said. “The plastic bag can last up to 5,000 years. These plastic bags kill about 700,000 animals a year. There’s an island the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean made up of stuff like this that is never going to go away.”

Leach is proposing a 2-cent surcharge on every plastic bag issued in Pennsylvania stores, with the money funding recycling programs. He’s hoping a financial incentive will convince people to consider alternatives.

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“What I’m hoping is it encourages people to use paper bags, what we did as kids, there was no plastic bags and everyone survived,” he said. “If you do use a plastic bag, and you buy five bags of groceries that’s a dime and that would go to recycling programs to at least offset the footprint of the environment.”

Leach is seeking co-sponsors of the bill and hopes to have a hearing on the measure before the end of the year.

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