Buh Bye Single-Use Plastic Bags

March 1, 2020 

To Our Friends and Family, 

As a New York City-based brand, we wanted to update you on something exciting happening in our state. If you’ve ever walked down the streets of NYC, we’re sure you’ve run into more than a few plastic bags floating in the wind or spilling out of street corner trash cans. In the eyes of many, that’s just part of living in NYC, but we all always knew we could do better. 

We have loved our iconic bodega bags for decades. From I Heart NY to Thank You Thank You Thank You to just a plain ole yellow smiley face, these plastic bags have been dangling from the arms of New Yorkers for years. But today, that all changes—and with good reason.

Starting today, New York has ushered into effect a plastic bag ban statewide. This law signifies a commitment to incremental change, as it will not only reduce the number of single-use plastic bags in landfills and littering our streets, but it will also eradicate the approximate 12 million barrels of fossil fuel used annually to make New York’s plastic bags. 

Identifying large-scale issues and devoting resources to implementing small changes that have BIG impact is what we are all about and what we hope to see more of on a local and nationwide level. 

Yours in the fight, 

TIDAL New York 

Want to read more about this legislation? We compiled a list of resources: 

The Department of Environmental Conservation Website 

“New York Officially Bans Plastic Bags” — Forbes

“Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling” — United States Environmental Protection Agency

“Plastic Pariah the Environmental Concerns Fueling NYC’s Bag Ban” — Brooklyn Paper

“NEW YORK STATE PLASTIC BAG TASK FORCE REPORT: An Analysis of the Impact of Single-Use Plastic Bags”

"NY's Plastic Bag Ban Begins March 1st. Here's Everything You Need To Know" — Gothamist