Another moronic New Jersey ban is on the way

So here we go again.

Some do-gooders and viral policy wackos want to make everyday life just a little more annoying, all in the name of a serious-sounding environmental benefit.

Echoes of New Jersey’s plastic bag ban

This feels just like the plastic bag ban all over again. You remember how that went.

The plastic bag ban was dumb enough, and the execution was chaos. Now we all own 400 reusable bags, half of them still crumpled in the trunk of the car, and somehow we are still forgetting them at home every single time we go to the store.

Did the planet get saved? Nope.

Did it make daily life more annoying for every human being in the state? Absolutely.

Now New Jersey lawmakers have set their sights on plastic utensils. That little fork or knife you get when you grab lunch on the fly.

This one would ban single-use plastic utensils entirely unless a customer specifically asks for one. Restaurants that ignore it could face fines up to $1,000.

Just another smack in the face for New Jersey businesses, and we all know that’s the way Jersey likes to treat small businesses.

From forks to chopsticks: How far will NJ go?

It does not stop at forks and knives; we are talking spoons, sporks, and even disposable chopsticks. Chopsticks!

Are you going to try to eat sushi with a fork?

The bill also suggests that restaurants with limited seating would need to use washable utensils and then take them back when customers are done. That is where this really starts to feel untethered from reality.

Takeout is takeout because people are leaving. They are going to offices, cars, the beach, soccer fields, or sitting on a bench outside. Nobody is circling back to return a fork.

Some say it cuts waste — others say it hurts small businesses

Supporters say businesses will save money and taxpayers will benefit from less waste clogging sewers.

In theory, it all sounds lovely, in real life, it sounds like another rule that is impossible to enforce evenly, and will mostly punish small businesses that are already hanging on by a thread.

This is New Jersey’s reflex.

Instead of encouraging better behavior or targeting massive polluters, we micromanage regular people, again, over and over.

Somehow the solution always seems to involve fines, fees, and one more thing we are not allowed to do.

Call the insanity of this is really starting to get out of control.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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