Laurel, MD — [May 29, 2024] Mayor Keith R. Sydnor, the Laurel City Council and the City of Laurel are excited to share the results from a survey by the Sierra Club, which conducted a survey over the course of four weekends in May 2024, visiting our four main grocery stores. Here are the results and the takeaway from the change:
- Adding the paper bag charge in Laurel has reduced the share of shoppers taking a paper bag by more than half (from 68% to 32%)!
- Reusable bag use rose from 14% to 23%, and skipping the bag entirely rose from 17% to 44%!
- The share of shoppers bringing a reusable bag or not taking a bag at all has more than doubled, from 31% to 66%
Here's the table:
Laurel (Food Lion, Giant, Harris Teeter, Shoppers)
Year | Number of stores | Number of shoppers | Percent of shoppers exiting with: | Shoppers with a reusable bag or no bag (%) |
Any reusable bag | Plastic bag or plastic/ paper mix | Paper bag | No bag |
2019 | 4 | 487 | 5.1% | 87.3% | 0.6% | 7.0% | 12.1% |
2022 | 4 | 457 | 14.0% | 0.4% | 68.3% | 17.3% | 31.3% |
2024 | 4 | 588 | 21.9% | 1.4% | 32.3% | 44.4% | 66.3% |
Notes:
2019: All stores provided complimentary single-use plastic bags. Paper bags were hard to find.
2022: City banned plastic bags less than 4 mil thick, and stores provided complimentary paper bags.
2024: City updated the ordinance, removing the bag thickness, banning plastic carryout bags that aren’t reusable, defining acceptable reusable bags, and requiring a charge of at least 10 cents for paper and other carryout bags.
Great job by the residents of the City of Laurel for getting the ball rolling in 2022 with our plastic bag ban and making the decision to update the ordinance to push for reusable bags in 2024.
Mayor Sydnor is extremely pleased with the results, “I am proud of our residents for embracing this change and City staff for positioning Laurel as a leader in environmentally friendly practices. Now onto Composting!”
Thank you, City of Laurel, for meeting the challenge of using reuseable bags. Together we are building a more sustainable City.
