PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - July 1st marked one year since the Maine Department of Environmental Protection banned single-use plastic carry out bags. Our WAGM reporter Isaac Potter caught up with local store owners and customers on how they have been adjusting to this change over the past year.

”I forgot my bags” has been a common saying over the past year when people are at the grocery store. It’s been a little over a year since the statewide ban of single use plastic carry out bags went into effect. According to the ban, Grocery stores, box stores, and large retailers that provide carry out bags must collect a 5-cent fee for each bag except for reusable bags not made of plastic or cloth bags with stitched handles.

Mark Kelley is the owner of Country Farms Market in Washburn, and says it was a transition for the customers and the employees.

Kelley says “It was still a learning curve for all of our employees too. To remember to ask “Hey do you want to buy a bag?” Always the habit of people getting groceries, and you automatically started bagging them up. Definitely was a transition period that I think everyone has adapted well. We got a lot of employees that have been here a long time. And once they get use to it, it’s just “hey do you want to buy a bag today? Do you need a bag today? And it’s working.”

Brandon Hopkins, the Owner of Graves Shop N Save, says the first few months there were customers that would often forget to bring their bags, but he has seen improvement.

Hopkins mentions “Over time it has gotten a lot better, everybody seems to always bring their reusable bags right up to 15% of our customers are still going for the paper ones. But overall everybody is just bringing in their reusable ones.”

I caught up with a few customers at Graves Shop N Save if they think the change has been beneficial to the state of Maine.

Patti Jo Thompson, Presque Isle Resident, says “Great that they got rid of the plastic in Maine. This is a beautiful state and a great place to live and not seeing garbage is better.”

Craig A. Fay, Presque Isle resident, explains “I am very forgetful at my age, I am 75 and if you want to go to the store. Most of the time you forget the bags that they give you, you have to buy your own. When the plastic bags I don’t quite understand that, because they want the paper.”

Hallie Baker, Portage Lake resident, says “I think that it is probably helping, it really should. Because it takes a lot of that plastic out of the system.”

Patrick Thompson, Presque Isle resident, mentions “100% agree, the only thing I missed is that they were great for pets if you had to put away waste or something. Now I got to buy my own.”

Hallie Baker, Portage Lake resident, says “Once in a while, and if I see somebody who doesn’t have one. I holler at them and say hey don’t forget your bag!”

A helpful reminder for all of us.

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