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This study looks at the role of Extension in helping local officials reduce plastic bag use at farmers markets in three Lake County, OH communities. We distributed free reusable bags to shoppers and conducted an education and outreach program. We then took observations to determine if the free reusable bags were being used. We also invited shoppers to take a voluntary survey about their environmental attitudes, why or why not they use the reusable bags, and how best to reduce plastic bag use moving forward. Results from the study suggest that supplying free reusable bags at farmer markets is not an effective strategy for Extension professionals attempting to reduce plastic bag use. Instead, we recommend working with local officials to develop financial incentives and disincentives tied to the type of bag option shoppers use, implement plastic bag bans at markets, and conduct locally-focused education and outreach. Although shoppers’ environmental literacy and desire for sustainability is high, it is shown that behavior change is unlikely to occur without financial or policy incentives.

T he majority of products made worldwide contain plastic because of its ability to be shaped into almost anything, its durability, and low production cost (Sigler 2014). Estimates based on prediction models developed by Geyer et al. ( 2017) suggest over 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced each year, with this number expected to increase by 2050. In the Great Lakes region, plastic accounts for 90% of the litter profile on beaches (Alliance for the Great Lakes 2019) and floating debris (Derraik 2002). Plastic is problematic in the environment because the characteristics making plastic a desirable product (lightweight, malleability, durability) also allow it to wreak havoc on living organisms (ingestion, entanglement, leaching of harmful chemicals) (Katsanevakis 2008; Andrady 2011). Plastic debris makes its way into the water system via land-based activities and through stormwater discharge, runoff,