Grocery shopping in Soldotna might be a little different as COVID-19 rages on because of pandemic-related supply chain shortages. In 2018, the city adopted new regulations which were aimed at decreasing the number of littered disposable plastic shopping bags, which can be harmful to the environment, pose a danger to wildlife, and cause litter. As a result, paper bags are offered as an alternative, but COVID-related supply chain shortages of paper bags have led Soldotna grocery store managers to contact the City of Soldotna to ask for permission to temporarily use plastic bags.
City Manager Stephanie Queen said:
“We were contacted by one of the main grocery stores in town. They’re having some supply chain issues getting paper bags and they wanted to communicate ahead of time that their supply of paper bags may run out as soon as at the end of this week. This is a familiar issue, unfortunately, the other grocery store had been in contact with us several months ago and say also we’re experiencing some COVID-related disruptions. I reassured both of those managers that there’s no problem with the city. We’re temporarily suspending enforcement of the plastic bag regulations in order to accommodate some of these COVID-related impacts. They are in good communication with us and I feel comfortable just continuing to work with them until those temporary disruptions can be resolved. You might get some questions from folks or you might see that at the grocery stores they’re starting to use plastic again. That’s something we’re aware of and we’re in communication and we’ll just continue to work with them and communicate until hopefully those things can be resolved.”
Soldotna isn’t the only city that instituted plastic bag regulations. Other communities that adopted similar legislation includes Wasilla, Palmer, Tanana, Sitka, Koyuk, Kotlik, Kodiak, Galena, Fort Yukon, Hooper Bay, Emmonak, Cordova, and Bethel.
For more on Soldotna’s disposable shopping bag regulation, click here.