Deborah Reynolds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Contact: Senator Deborah Reynolds (603) 271-3569
Marjorie Rose, parent advisor (603) 667-1823

SENATE PASSES REUSABLE BAG RESOLUTION

CONCORD - A resolution promoted by a group of Hanover teenagers passed the Senate today with a 24-0 vote in support of encouraging the use of reusable shopping bags as an environmentally-friendly alternative to paper and plastic.

"I want to thank Kids for a Cooler Planet for bringing this forward and direct you to their terrific website www.kidsforacoolerplanet.com," said Senator Deborah Reynolds (D-Plymouth). "Looking at the website, I was struck by the fact that over 100 billion disposable plastic bags are used in the U.S. each year and the vast majority of them end up in landfills. I'm very proud of these students for drawing attention to this problem and promoting the use of reusable bags to reduce pollution and ease the burden on our landfills."

Four members of the group - Ellen Irwin, 16, Brian Kispert, 16, Jennifer Helble, 15, and Kyle Van Leer- were present in the Senate chamber when the Senate passed the resolution. HCR17 already passed in the House.

"Supporters of HCR17 believe that by passing this resolution, the New Hampshire Legislature will increase awareness of the problems disposable bags bring and will encourage more retailers to sell and promote reusable bags," said Senator Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth), who leads the Senate committee that recommended passage of the resolution.

The Hanover High School students formed Kids for a Cooler Planet as part of their effort to educate store owners and consumers about the importance of abandoning disposable plastic and paper bags in favor of reusable bags. They got Representative David Pierce (D-Etna) and Senator Reynolds to co-sponsor a resolution recommending reusable bags. The group is seeking similar support from Vermont lawmakers.

These students already have convinced Hanover and Norwich, VT merchants to make reusable bags available and the communities reduced disposable bag use by roughly 700,000 in the first year, the students said.

Senator Peter Burling (D-Cornish) said he expects the effort will reduce the number of plastic bags he sees blowing into the trees as he drives by the Lebanon landfill.

"What you are doing will change the quality of my life and I want to thank you for that," he told the students.