Trenton, NJ (January 30, 2020)–The plastic bag ban bill, S864 (Smith/Greenstein), was released by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee today, January 30, 2020. The bill prohibits the

provision or sale of single-use plastic carryout bags, single-use paper carryout bags, and polystyrene foam food service products. It also limits the provision of single-use plastic straws and appropriates moneys from the Clean Communities Program Fund for public education. The bill was amended to go into effect 18 months after it is signed for plastic bags, paper bags, and polystyrene, and 1 year for straws.

“Today, the battle to stop plastics begins all over again. Now that this bill has left the committee, it is critical to get this bill passed as soon as possible. Every day of delay means that more plastics are getting into our environment and into us. This is the most comprehensive plastic bill in the nation because it bans paper bags as well as single-use plastic bags. This legislation is critical because it could make New Jersey a national leader in going after plastics and protecting our environment,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We have been fighting to get this bill passed for over two years. Given the delays, it is important that they have changed the effective date to 18 months instead of 2 years. It is critical that our legislators push this bill through quickly, because the longer we delay the worse our plastic problem gets.”

Last year, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) found that the use of thick ‘reusable’ plastic bags in the UK increased from 960 million in 2018 to 1.5 billion 2019, likely a direct result of a country-wide single use plastic bag ban. This shows that consumers are using thicker plastic bags in the same disposable manner as single-use plastic bags, because they are being regularly replaced. The study recommended banning thick plastic bags entirely to effectively reduce plastic waste for the UK.

“This legislation is critical because it bans so-called ‘reusable’ thick plastic bags as well as single-use bags. There has been a push for these fake reusable bags to replace thin plastic bags, but these bags do not work. Places that replace single-use plastic with these ‘bags for life’ still find piles of them in the garbage or polluting the environment. Because they are thicker and woven with fine plastic fibers, they only increase our plastic waste problem and become microplastics that enter our water supplies and food chain,” said Jeff Tittel. “We need to ban plastics, but these thicker plastic bags would only continue to clog our storm drains, kill our wildlife, and pollute our drinking water. We are glad that this legislation will protect us from all plastics, regardless of thickness.”

Bans on plastic have proven to be effective. For example, Los Angeles County saw a 94 percent reduction in single-use bags after implementing a ban. This included a 30 percent reduction in paper bag use with a 10-cent fee on other bags. In San Jose, they saw an 89 percent decrease of bags in storm drains, 60 percent fewer in creeks, and 59 percent fewer in streets.

“This is an important day for the state of New Jersey. This bill will help protect our rivers and streams from plastic that not only hurts the environment but also endangers our wildlife and public health. Without this legislation, plastics will continue to kill whales and get into our environment and into us. Microplastics have already been found near our drinking water supply, so we could literally be drinking plastic. Plastic bags have been known to clog storm drains and fill up detention basins, affecting our water quality. Animals, especially birds, get strangled and suffocated by plastic bags,” said Tittel. “This bill is important because it will ban polystyrene containers and single-use plastic bags, including fake thick plastic reusable bags, and will allow paper bags to be used during the transition before banning those as well.”

This is the first bill in the country that would ban paper bags in addition to single-use plastic bags. So far, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. In New Jersey, towns like Paramus, Bayonne, Lambertville, Avalon, Belmar, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Teaneck are all passing plastic bag ban ordinances.

“This legislation is a major step forward in dealing with single-use plastic bags as well as polystyrene and plastic straws. Polystyrene is dangerous to human health because it contains carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and styrene, and it has been found in breast milk. It is harmful to the environment because it is not recyclable and does not degrade. Plastic straws pollute our oceans and beaches. Last year, New Jersey found that more than 80% of their trash is plastic and found an increase in plastic straw waste by 59%,” said Jeff Tittel, “By reducing how much plastic we use, we can also reduce fracking and fossil fuel use. Plastics are made from natural gas, which means more fossil fuel use, more pipelines, and more fracking.”

Plastics have become a bigger and bigger problem that affects our environment. Rutgers scientists found densities of about 28,000 to more than 3 million plastic particles per square kilometer in the Passaic and Raritan Rivers. Beach sweeps in New Jersey found that beaches from Monmouth County down to Cape May County have micro plastics in the ocean and on the beach.

“Now that this bill has left committee, our legislators need to pass it as quickly as possible because this is landmark legislation for New Jersey when it comes to plastics. People are fed up with plastic pollution filling up their storm drains and threatening their drinking water. 38 towns in New Jersey already have plastic bans in effect, 18 have passed ordinances that are not yet in effect, and dozens more are in the process. New Jersey’s Legislature needs to stand up and be as bold as places like Jersey City and Sea Bright. We need this comprehensive statewide ban to combat our plastic pollution effectively,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Our Legislature must work quickly to get this to the governor\’s desk to sign before our plastic waste problem gets worse. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”

source NJ Sierra Club

Upset Hindus are urging for apology from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing for its student newspaper stating “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”.

It was highly inappropriate and insensitive for the newspaper of a “Top Public College” funded by tax dollars and student fees (many of whom were Hindu) to belittle Hinduism, world’s oldest and third largest religion with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought; Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said in Nevada today.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis to launch an enquiry into it; TCNJ Trustees Chair Susanne Svizeny and President Dr. Kathryn A. Foster to offer a formal apology to the Hindu community; and TCNJ to withdraw January 29 (Spring 2020 No. 1) print edition of  “The Signal” from various campus locations and remove the objectionable feature article from its online edition.

Such an unwarranted and derogatory statement against a religion coming out of a public educational institution was really shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful Hindu community; which had made lot of contributions to New Jersey, USA and society in general; and continued to do so; Rajan Zed added.

Is this how TCNJ accomplishes its Mission of developing “responsible citizens”, Vision of serving “as a national exemplar of public higher education”, Values of \”treat each other with civility and respect\” and “committed to building a diverse and inclusive community\”; Zed wonders.

Rajan Zed further said that Hindus were for free speech and artistic expression as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the devotees.

The feature-article, which begins with “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”, written by \”Nation & World Editor\” of award-winning “The Signal” (among the oldest collegiate weeklies, since 1855) is dated January 27, 2020. Emmy Liederman is Editor-in-Chief.

“Highly selective” awards-winning TCNJ, on 289 tree-lined acres, enrolls about 7,400 graduate and undergraduate students and offers over 50 programs.

There are about three million Hindus in USA. New Jersey reportedly has the highest percentage of Hindus in the nation.

TRENTON NJ–The plastic bag ban bill, S864 (Smith/Greenstein), will be up in the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on Thursday, January 30, 2020. The bill prohibits the provision or sale of single-use plastic

carryout bags, single-use paper carryout bags, and polystyrene foam food service products. It also limits the provision of single-use plastic straws and appropriates moneys from the Clean Communities Program Fund for public education.

“Senator Smith is keeping his promise to help New Jersey ban plastics as soon as possible. When this bill failed to pass both houses at the end of the legislative session, Senator Smith said that this would be the first bill on his agenda and he is keeping that commitment. Without this legislation, plastics will continue to kill whales and get into our environment and into us. Microplastics have already been found near our drinking water supply, so we could literally be drinking plastic. Animals like fish and birds can ingest plastic, and plastic bags clog storm drains and fill up detention basins, affecting our water quality,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Unfortunately, this bill was stopped earlier this year when the Assembly did not vote on it. It is critical that our legislators push this bill through quickly before our plastic problem gets worse.”

This is the first bill in the country that would ban paper bags in addition to single-use plastic bags. So far, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. In New Jersey, towns like Paramus, Bayonne, Lambertville, Avalon, Belmar, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Teaneck are all passing plastic bag ban ordinances.

“This is landmark legislation for New Jersey. This bill is a major step forward in dealing with single-use plastic bags as well as polystyrene and plastic straws. Polystyrene is dangerous to human health because it contains carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and styrene, and it has been found in breast milk. It is harmful to the environment because it is not recyclable and does not degrade. Plastic straws pollute our oceans and beaches. Last year, New Jersey found that more than 80% of their trash is plastic and found an increase in plastic straw waste by 59%,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “By reducing how much plastic we use, we can also reduce fracking and fossil fuel use. Plastics are made from natural gas, which means more fossil fuel use, more pipelines, and more fracking.”