NYC mayor endorses full ban on plastic bags

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - If you take a look around the city, at any given time, at any given day, you'll likely see someone carrying a plastic bag, or finding a creative way to use one. But Mayor Bill de Blasio wants this to be a thing of the past.

De Blasio has tried in the past to encourage New Yorkers to wean off plastic bags. First by proposing a fee per bag, which was blocked by Albany. Then Sunday, the mayor threw in his support for an all-out ban on plastic bags.

In a response to a New York Times opinion piece, de Blasio tweeted: "We need to ban plastic bags - the time for debate on this is over. They're bad for the environment, they're bad for the economy, they're bad for New York. The state is behind the curve here, it's time to put our planet first."

New Yorkers Fox 5 News spoke to had mixed opinions.

As for the state's position, a task force has been formed to come up with a statewide solution to plastic bag usage. But no specific recommendations have been made.