N.J. weighs bringing back paper bags as unwanted reusable bags pile up
New Jersey’s law bars grocery stores in the state from using any kind of single-use bags, be it paper or plastic. In-person shoppers can bring their own bags or buy reusable ones there. But most major grocery stores and Instacart — which hosts businesses like Wegmans, Kings, Aldi, Key Foods, and Save A Lot — package online orders in a fresh set of reusable bags every time, either providing them at no cost or charging for them with each order.
Katiuska Tejada-Rivera can’t quite put her finger on how many reusable bags she’s accumulated in the more than four months since New Jersey’s single-use plastic bag ban began. It’s hard to tell based on how she organizes them — stacked and stuffed inside other reusable bags.