How’s that New Jersey Plastic Bag Ban Working for You?

The New Jersey plastic bag ban seemed like a great idea, but certain issues were not expected. Without giving it much thought at the time, I felt it seemed like a pretty good plan.

When we shopped at the big box warehouse stores we used boxes. Since the elimination of disposable bags, we now have easier access to the reusable bags. My problem was and still is that I keep forgetting to bring my reusable bags into the store. Then realizing too late I find myself bagging as I put the items into the car rather than into the cart. However, that’s not the main issue with the bag ban.

A study by Freedonia Custom Research (FCR) shows that disposable “bag volumes declined by more than 60%.” That sounds good until you learn that three times the amount of plastic is now being used to manufacture reusable or woven bags. Also, six times more “plastic was consumed to produce the reusable bags sold” since the bag ban.

New Jersey stores also face the problem of what to use for their delivery services. Grocery shopping online has become an extremely popular thing in the Garden State. We have a variety of services to choose from. There’s Peapod, Amazon Prime Pantry, Hello Fresh, Fresh Direct, Instacart, and the list continues.

If you use any of these services then you may have realized another problem created by the law. Those of us who make our food purchases online are involuntarily collecting a large amount of the disposable bags that come with each order. This is an issue that was not considered by lawmakers when they voted to ban single-use bags.

There has been much success related to the ban. For example, fewer plastic bags blowing all over the state and ending up in lakes and streams. You don’t see them flying across beaches or down highways either.

A few new ideas are floating around. The first is to let grocery stores use paper bags, but only for deliveries. Waste would still be reduced because of the very small percentage of grocery purchases being delivered.

Another idea is to have the delivery companies use cardboard boxes like the ones offered at the big warehouse stores and some delivery companies are using them already. Perhaps the delivery services could collect and reuse the bags. If you’ve stockpiled reusable bags you may want to drop them off at your area food bank.

The 2024 Oscar-nominated films are all great this year. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer snagged a whopping 13 nominations. Yorgos Lanthimos’ feminist fantasy film, Poor Things, was close behind with 11 nominations.Martin Scorsese’s historical crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon received ten nominations, while Greta Gerwig’s box-office smash Barbie, earned eight nominations. This year, 321 feature films were eligible for the Oscars, and 265 of those qualified for the Best Picture category. For the first time in history, three of the ten movies nominated for Best Picture were directed by a female, the most in Oscars history (Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Celine Song’s Past Lives).

Although many of the Academy’s favorite films only recently arrived in theaters, many of them are already available to stream, rent, or purchase online. So far, The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, American Fiction, Past Lives are only available to buy for $19.99 at press time. Anatomy of a Fall is available to rent for $5.99 or $6.99 on AppleTV+ and Prime Video, and YouTube and Google Play, respectively.

As we previously reported, the 96th Academy Awards will air live from the Dolby Theater on ABC, abc.com, or the ABC app. on Sunday, March 10 starting at a new earlier time at 7 pm ET, scheduled to end at 10:30 pm ET. A 30-minute pre-show will lead into the live show at 6:30. Jimmy Kimmel returns as host for the fourth time. Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicolas Cage, and Al Pacino are among the first group of presenters for the awards ceremony. Also presenting are last year’s winners: Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Oscar winners Mahershala Ali, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sam Rockwell are also set to take the stage.

Keep scrolling to see how to stream all the Oscar-nominated feature films in the major categories:

Nominated for Best Picture; Best Director (Christopher Nolan); Actor in a Leading Role (Cillian Murphy); Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Downey Jr.); Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography; Costume Design; Sound; Original Score (Ludwig Göransson); Makeup and Hairstyling; Production Design; Film Editing.

What's it About: During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. (Matt Damon) appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world's first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

Where to Stream: Peacock.

Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Coleman Domingo).

What's it About: Bayard Rustin (Coleman Domingo), advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen), dedicates his life to the quest for racial equality, human rights and worldwide democracy. However, as an openly gay Black man, he is all but erased from the civil rights movement he helped build.

Where to Watch: Netflix.

Nominated for Best Picture; Best Director (Martin Scorsese); Actress in a Leading Role (Lily Gladstone); Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert De Niro); Cinematography; Original Song; Costume Design; Original Score (Robbie Robertson); Production Design; Film Editing.

What's it About: Real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal as Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone), a member of the Osage Nation, tries to save her community from a spree of murders fueled by oil and greed. The film also stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, Robert De Niro as William Hale, and Jesse Plemons as Tom White.

Where to Watch: AppleTV+

Nominated for Best Picture; Actor in a Supporting Role (Ryan Gosling); Actress in a Supporting Role (America Ferrera); Adapted Screenplay; Original Song; Costume Design; Production Design.

What's it About: Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. America Ferrera's performance as Mattel employee Gloria is amazing and we know the scene that they'll use at the Oscars when they are naming the nominees.

Where to Watch: Max

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Annette Bening); Actress in a Supporting Role (Jodie Foster).

What's it About: Sixty-four-year-old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) attempts to become the first person ever to swim more than 100 miles from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage, powered only by her stubborn will and swimming prowess. Jodie Foster co-stars as Bonnie Stoll, her best friend, former partner, and trainer.

Where to Watch: Netflix

Nominated for Best Picture; Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Giamatti); Actress in a Supporting Role (Da’Vine Joy Randolph); Original Screenplay; Film Editing.

What's it About: A curmudgeonly instructor named Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker (Domininc Sessa), and with the school's head cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.

Where to Watch: Peacock

Nominated for Best Picture; Actor in a Leading Role (Bradley Cooper); Actress in a Leading Role (Carey Mulligan); Original Screenplay; Cinematography; Sound; Makeup and Hairstyling.

What's it About: On the verge of securing a golden opportunity, American conductor Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) begins a tumultuous relationship with actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan), upturning their lives. Bradley Cooper stars, directs, and co-wrote the film that chronicles the lifelong relationship between Leonard and Felicia. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.

Where to Watch: Netflix

Nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role (Danielle Brooks).

What's it About: The film adaptation based on the Broadway musical by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray and Marsha Norman (which in turn is based on Alice Walker’s best-selling novel), follows the story of Celie (Fantasia Barrino), who is torn apart from her sister and her children. Celie faces many hardships in life, including an abusive husband named Albert "Mister" Johnson (Colman Domingo). With support from a sultry singer named Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), as well as her stand-her-ground stepdaughter Sofia (Danielle Brooks), Celie ultimately finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of sisterhood.

Where to Watch: Hulu, Max, and Amazon Prime Video

Nominated for Original Screenplay.

What's it About: Popular television actor Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) heads to Savannah, Georgia, to research a part in a new film that follows a scandalous tabloid romance. That love affair — between Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) — was once a fixture of the gossip pages. After all, Joe is significantly younger than Gracie, who served time in prison when they were caught together. When she was released, the pair were married, and they now have three children together who are about to graduate from high school. At first glance, their untraditional marriage looks more predictable than Elizabeth expected. But soon, her observation brings long-dormant feelings to the surface, and the decades-old scandal reveals deeper and deeper layers.

Where to Watch: Netflix

Nominated for Animated Feature Film.

What's it About: After reuniting with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

Where to Watch: Netflix