Restrictions on single-use plastic bags will go into effect on January 1, 2022, due to the unanimous adoption of a Las Cruces ordinance aimed at reducing plastic pollution. Councilor Tessa Abeyta-Stuve says that while it’ll take time for the public to adjust to the ordinance, the change will bring significant community impact.
“Honestly, I see this as an investment for the future,” Abeyta-Stuve said. “And it helps protect everything from our quality of life, to our climate…There is an adjustment that will have to happen to people, but in a few years I think it will become more normal.”
Establishments such as grocery stores, gas stations and department stores are included in the ordinance—though food banks and restaurants will be exempt from restrictions. Restricted businesses seeking to provide paper bags to customers as an alternative will now be required to charge a 10-cent fee.
According to Las Cruces Sustainability Officer Lisa LaRocque, in a survey of 1,600 city residents, more than 76 percent agreed/strongly agreed that encouraging reusable bags protects the environment.
In that same city survey, 84% of residents indicated they reuse plastic bags for household needs like trash liners. Some experts, such as University of Sydney Economist Rebecca Taylor, say restricting use causes its own environmental challenges—telling NPR in 2019 that in the California region she studied 4-gallon garbage bag purchases rose 120% after a local plastic bag ban was enacted.
But LaRocque says that the throw-away mentality associated with plastic bags must be stopped to preserve both the environment and resident health.
“Most plastics are petroleum-based and are not designed to biodegrade and plastics can last in the environment for hundreds of years where they break down into small microbeads,” LaRocque said. “And these microbeads are prone to have toxins attached to them, and they can be passed through and accumulate in the food chain.”
She says that unlike the city of Albuquerque’s plastic bag restrictions, Las Cruces is restricting all plastic bags rather than specifying bag thickness.
“We learned from Albuquerque that retailers had just offered a little bit thicker bag and made themselves exempt from this ordinance,” LaRocque said. “And as our goal is to reduce plastic waste, and the damaging consequences of microplastics, we opted to cut plastic use entirely.”
LaRocque says that one household uses approximately 1,500 plastic bags a year—often for an average of fewer than 12 minutes each.
The high turnover rate is something Councilor Gabe Vasquez takes notice of, saying that this ordinance can help create a cleaner city image for residents and visitors alike.
“Seeing those mesquite trees and other bushes lined with just hundreds of plastic bags is painful, and makes me cringe, that that's the image that we are putting forth of our city when people come to visit, or for our residents,” Vasquez said. “We get endless complaints from residents in different parts of the city on which plastic is the major source of pollution. And when those bags make it out to the desert to harder to reach areas, they're going to stay there for hundreds of years.”
Councilor Johana Bencomo wants to see more plastic bag restrictions enacted across the country, saying she hopes to see local governments provoke action on the federal level.
“This is about making our community cleaner and healthier for us,” Bencomo said. “But I also think it's about being part of a growing momentum and a growing movement in this country of cities opting into policies like this, that puts pressure and makes demands on Congress. Ultimately, they're the ones that must act with national policy to ensure that our future looks a little bit cleaner.”
