WILDWOOD — The local chapter of the United Way is taking the first step in going green, one bag at a time.

Suzanne Nardi, executive director of the United Way of Cape May County, which oversees the lunch program and food pantry, located at First Baptist Church at Maple and Atlantic avenues, told the Herald April 22 that the chapter would like to use cloth recyclable bags when giving out food or clothes, instead of plastic.

Nardi said that with over 40 people coming to use the food pantry each week and having to double bag groceries that are weighed downed with canned goods, the number of plastic bags used each week easily stretches into the hundreds.
The food pantry, she said, is open Thursdays from 10-11a.m., and will open for emergencies at any time. People are only eligible for the pantry once a month.

Nardi said that during the weekly Thursday free lunch for the hungry at the church’s social hall, that serves about 50 per week; people also leave there with plastic bags of clothes.

But despite the chapter’s charitable actions, Nardi said the amount plastic bags used are negatively impacting the environment.
“We see the bags littered on the street and caught in the tops of trees,” Nardi said. “We’re contributing to that.”

According to reusablebags.com, plastic bags end up as litter that fouls the landscape, and kill thousands of marine mammals every year that mistake the floating bags for food. Plastic bags that get buried in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down, and in the process they separate into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water.
Furthermore, the production of plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.

Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. For example, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, this country alone used over 10 billion paper grocery bags in the year 2000, which adds up to a lot of trees.

Since it isn’t environmentally responsible to use plastic or paper, many have turned to high-quality reusable shopping bags made of materials that don’t harm the environment during production and don’t need to be discarded after each use.

“We all can do something to help, even if it is as small as making a change in the type of bag that is used to carry food,” Nardi said.

She is even working on having representatives from the county MUA come to the food pantry and educate people about making “green friendly” decisions, such as using cloth bags for shopping. According to Nardi, some clients have already opted to bring their own reusable bags when using the food pantry.

“The desire to do it is there,” she said.

Nardi said the chapter does have about 50 bags donated by Joseph Capuzzi and Tara Catanese, who purchased them from Our Lady of the Angels. Approximately 100 more, donated by Sticks and Dirt Real Estate Company, are going to be used to transport and store over 10,000 rubber ducks, used in the Rubber Ducky Regatta.

While the donated bags are a great start, Nardi doesn’t just want a few clients going green. She wants to provide enough reusable totes to bag plastic for good and is hoping that local business will help them in their cause.

“We’re breaking records here for people using our services,” Nardi said and noted that number of people using the services during the winter and spring has gone up substantially from last year. “I want to break records for people giving.”

Contact Suit at: (609) 886-8600 ext. 25 or lsuit@cmcherald.com