Wonderful news!  Gov. Paterson has passed the statewide plastic bag recycling bill with an amendment which leaves New York City’s more progressive law in effect. As City Council Speaker Christine Quinn states:

“This is a truly great win for our City.  A statewide program – while clearly a step in the right direction for our entire state – would have drastically reduced the number of city stores required to accept bags from consumers under the City’s law. This promise for an amendment to the newly-signed statewide bill gives New Yorkers the best of both worlds.  It creates a program that will bring responsible recycling to communities throughout the state, while allowing the City to go further in our own efforts to prevent bags from polluting our streets and waterways or clogging our landfills.”

Thanks to all of you that took the time to call, email, and write letters in support of leaving NYC recycling law in effect. Our efforts really helped make this happen! It is a great success story for our Integral Activism / Back to the Sack project. Before moving foward to work on banning plastic bags altogether, we should take the time to enjoy what we have accomplished so far!