State Officials Should Adopt Flexible Approach to Looming Bag Ban
According to one small business owner in New York, the state’s looming plastic bag ban will lead to severe unintended consequences and increased costs for businesses and consumers alike. Recently, Salvatore M. Bonavita, president of Belmonte Markets and Management and co-owner of two family owned supermarkets in the Bronx, penned an op-ed in City Limits.
In the op-ed, he states, “I am in the business of helping my customers feed their families, not in the selling of bags. I cannot, in good conscience, participate in this burden-shifting exercise. This is one more thing – on top of rising labor costs – that we as business owners have to absorb. Like all retailers, we have had to change how we do business, including raising prices and cutting labor. But, basic economics tells you that you can’t balance an equation by always subtracting.”
