Washington slaps fee on plastic shopping bags

[The Northerner]

Source: Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — Residents of the US capital may have to dig a little deeper into their pockets when they go grocery shopping once the city slaps a five-cent levy on each plastic bag issued at the checkout line.

The measure, which takes effect on January 1, 2010 and is the first such initiative in the United States, seeks to make consumers bear the brunt of clean up costs for the bags which currently are dispensed for free with a customer's purchases.

Plastic bags, while popular with shoppers, often end up clinging to tree branches, tangled in power lines, polluting rivers and clogging up storm drains.

"I signed this law in July to cut down on the disposable bags that foul our waterways," said Mayor Adrian Fenty in a statement last month, saying that one particularly urban waterway, the city's Anacostia River, has been particularly befouled by the plastic shopping bags.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iw87xnFm3GLxRXMbiVNopnrez8-g

[grahamhgreen]

1. Very good news. The manufacturers should be made to clean up the mess they made with these things.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. With all due respect, it's not the manufacturers who are making the mess.

It's the consumers who leave the store with items in these bags and then do not take care of the bags afterward who are making the mess.

I love plastic bags. I use them over and over again. One local grocery chain used to pay a bounty for reused bags. I take them to thrift stores so that they can wrap the things they sell in plastic bags. The bags are great to keep things dry if you go bicycle camping.

When I would go car camping in Oregon, I would clean up beer cans and bottles at campsites. The money I made from them was enough to buy food.

Sometimes it takes a fee to get people to think about their acts.

It's not the manufacturers at fault. They aren't throwing the bags out car windows.

[Gormy Cuss]

33. The manufacturers contribute, as do the stores, by using such flimsy bags.

Some chains, mostly notably Whole Paycheck before they stopped using them, had much heavier grade plastic bags that could hold more than a couple of grocery items without tearing and didn't need to be doubled. They also weren't as likely to fly off the top of a trash can like the lightweight ones.

Sure, there are pigs who discard plastic bags willy nilly too, but problem became noticeable when the very lightweight plastic bags became common. FWIW, when paper bags were the norm they weren't a big item in roadside trash either.

Adding the fee won't bother people who are just sloppy. However, just like container deposit laws, it will be one more way to nickel and dime people with the fewest nickels and dimes. Unlike containers there will be no redemption value attached -- it's just a fee for an inferior product. Rather than charge a nickel I'd rather see credits issued for people who use their own bags or none as well as more free-with-purchase promotions for the recycled plastic bags with store logos.

[area51]

38. +1

Better to have a tiny rebate for bringing in your own bags than to screw the poor.

[MH1]

40. I knew it wouldn't take long

the poor won't be "screwed" because they will start bringing their own bags.

I've been taking my own bags for shopping for decades, literally, and am amazed at how few people (still!) don't fucking get it. Canvas bags are actually FAR better for lugging groceries and most other items, besides being much better environmentally.

[tavalon]

46. We;ve been using reuseable totes for many years now

We have a system where they get hung on the front door after they've been used for groceries. Then they go back to the trunk any time one of us goes out to the car. Rinse, repeat. If they get dirty, they get thrown in the wash. I actually ended up with too many since so many grocery stores have coupons for free ones, but they often get employed for other things in my house.

[alp227]

2. No more annoying plastic bags in random places. K&R&NT

[Suji to Seoul]

3. They do this in certain parts of Korea (my old city)

and in China.

It keeps down costs, forces people to buy reusable bags and recycled the plastic bags into garbage bags.

Bravo!

[Raine]

4. I HATE those plastic bags

they multiple worse than rabbits, sometimes I think we are all going to be buried up to our eyeballs in them. :mad:

[bruneiyuki143]

28. its called uk2x

they are what they call here in the Philippines , second hand clothes from just about anywhere you name it , the salvation army - anywhere ! why cant they find a way to instead sew this clothes and make them into beautiful grocery bags instead .

[flor-de-jasmim]

5. We have this all over Europe - the bags are much thicker and are reusable for a few times.

We can also buy reuasable cloth bags--people are much more aware of the number of bags they are using!

[bruneiyuki143]

29. Europe

yes and it is much easier to recycle

[Number23]

41. Same here in Australia. Many grocery stores don't even have plastic bags anymore

And many of the ones that do charge you 10 cents a bag. Took me a while to remember to always pack my cloth shopping bags. But now I just throw them in the trunk of my car and forget about it. :)

[garybeck]

6. Can we PLEASE have a national recycling bill/law? Please?

A Call For A National Recycling Bill
http://solarbus.org/blog/?p=53

[Jkid]

19. Good idea

Let congress set minimum standards for every state and then have states either enforce the federal law or make their own laws that exceed the federal law. They can do that.

[ChiciB1]

22. Great Idea! Even Here In This Ruby Red County We Have Recycling!

Still, while most stores offer their own cloth bags to buy, a majority of the people still use plastic! I have a lot of cloth bags from other places and even have a large beach bag I take with me. The cashiers are good about taking my bags and filling them.

But we've been recycling for years and years. It's built into the property taxes for each household as are the garbage pick-up costs!

Even though it's a Repuke county, the place is clean and while there is litter, it's much less than some places!

[bruneiyuki143]

30. a call

good idea and we can save mother earth

[AllyCat]

7. I have no problem with this at all.

I remember shopping in Germany in 1986 and having to buy bags. Bring your own. I would like to see manufacturers take some heat here too, but I know any penalty will just be passed onto the consumers. So lets stop the demand side instead.

[SergeStorms]

9. I don't have a problem with it either, but.......

if anyone thinks that this new tax (call it what it really is) will go to cleaning up the environment they're sadly mistaken. It will, as always, be spent on other pet projects. I think it will reduce the number of plastic bags wafting in the breeze, but unfortunately the money will be spent elsewhere.

[AllyCat]

10. I agree. Just want to see fewer plastic bags wafting in the breeze

:)

[Sherman A1]

8. I used to love to recycle everything I could, then I was screwed by our county

and local government with a wonderful, "easy", single stream program for recyclables.

Our local government has a recycle center in one of our parks. You have to divide up the paper and cardboard from everything else, but beyond that it was one trip every couple of weeks for recycling. My boss was okay with me putting using the dumpster at work for the remaining one small bag per week that my spouse & I generated, so I cut out my trash service and saved about $250.00 per year.

Then the county decided to mandate single stream recycling for every resident and the local city had to follow the legislation by contracting with a trash hauler, provide us with toters for recycling (Tuesday pickup) and trash (Wednesday pickup). There was no opt out option as all residents were forced to pay for the service. It is now simply easier for me to toss everything in the trash, take one toter to the curb each week and use their lovely recycle toter to store my wife's unused flower pots.

We still do recycle most of our paper, plastics, glass & metals to the recycle center (as I refuse to use the toter), but I am much less selective now, so if something goes in the trash that could have been recycled, oh well. I am now paying an additional $300.00 per year for a service I did not need or want courtesy of the bright boys on the county council.

[ChiciB1]

23. We Have Bins Provided To Us To Separate Paper From Other Recyclables!

But you can't put plastic bags in with the plastic bottles, cans etc. Neither can you put styrofoam which are two BIG polluters! They have to be put in with the wet garbage and we have one day a week pick-ups! Three different trucks on that day! Wet garbage, recyclables and wood and brush cuttings. Have to put brush in 40 lbs bundles if not in a trash can.

And while they did contract with one company most people like it fine! I know some people don't play by the rules, but every household gets two bins, and more if you want for free!

[Robb]

34. Social contract kind of stuff, there.

Me, I never use the school, but there's the levy right there on my taxes.

[Sherman A1]

39. I don't disagree and I still do recycle but with much less

enthusiasm than before. If a few more things end up in the trash rather than going to the recycle center, oh, well.

More of a vent than a huge change in behavior beyond being force to spend more each year.

[JDPriestly]

11. I recycle many of my plastic bags for covering seedlings

for plantings in my garden. I certainly don't use all of them, but I use a fair amount of them. Very useful. I also wash them out and reuse them to refrigerate leftover salad, etc. Very useful.

I also reuse my Trader Joe's bags over and over.

I like cloth bags too.

[DemoTex]

12. In the UK those plastic shopping bags are called ..

Witches' Britches

[bruneiyuki143]

31. what?

how strange i wonder why

[glowing]

13. Some stores are going to be concerned with shoplifiting.... If it ends up that

more products are leaving the store than the 5 cent tax.. they will switch to paper only or pay the 5 cent tax themselves, rather than lose product.

[bruneiyuki143]

32. tax

who ever did the law on that should reconsider

[proudohioan]

14. Why impose any fee? Why not just ban the damn plastic bags?

As another poster pointed out, that nickle probably won't go to where it should go. Furthermore, why are these "fee's" ALWAYS passed onto the consumer, rather than onto the manufacturer? Thirdly, who is going to count the bags that the customer uses? The poor over-worked, under-paid cashier? (I know, I was a cashier in a grocery store for over a year; worst job in my life!) Will the poor consumer pay for doubling the plastic bag for heavy items when the owner of the grocery store is too damn cheap to order a decent quality bag that doesn't rip with one item placed inside?

I rarely use the plastic bags anymore; I like to bring my own bags and pack them myself. There is nothing I hate more than to go to my local MetroPark and see plastic bags on the ground and wrapped up in trees! And I hate the way plastic bags "breed like rabbits" under the sink. The few plastic bags that I do get, I re-use. Some of our local grocery stores have plastic bag recycling bins, which is nice, but why not just eliminate them altogether, or utilize Aldi's practice of everyone brings their own bags and packs them at a separate counter? Aldi's does have both plastic and paper bags for purchase, but the plastic bags are large and thick and designed to be used over and over again. They aren't the thin, flimsy types that wind up wrapped around tree limbs.

[jtrockville]

25. That's likely the next step. First the fee, then the ban.

[golddigger]

15. Why are the shoppers

being tax? Why not the stores who provide the plastic bags instead of paper?

[proudohioan]

17. Cuz it would be bad for business, don't cha see?

As model employers already, retail owners would have to resort to the unheard of practice of eliminating full-time workers, cutting the hours of the rest of the workers,and reducing all of the "perks" that retail employers pride themselves on providing, such as health insurance, paid sick leave and vacation days! We KNOW that those sterling retailers such as Wal-mart would HATE to have to resort to any of those measures to any of their valued "associates", but see NO OTHER CHOICE than to pass the cost of providing their quality plastic bags onto the consumers! After all, the profit margin for for retailers is just so incredibly slim already that some of those CEO's might be FORCED to sell one of their yachts or give up ONE of their Club Med trips in Tahiti! :nopity:

:sarcasm:

[Joanne98]

18. This was a stoopid idea! Why are they making the poor pay?

Just ban the damn things!

[V_Byl]

20. I think the poor will be alright...

Maybe they could save up and buy a reusable bag for 99 cents... and in the long run they'll save money.

Or they could pay for each bag. Whatever I guess... if it were up to me it'd be 25 cents per bag.

[Gormy Cuss]

35. Yeah, the poor will be alright. They're used to drawing the short straw.

More free-with-purchase promos for the reusables would be good. I've yet to pay for one of those 99 cent specials but have some that I picked up at street fairs or store promos.

[ChiciB1]

24. I Agree With You! Ban Them... But Too Many Stores Have Already Made

their "store name" cloth bags available! One more way for their advertisement, and one more way to make money! If I run in a store to buy just a few things and forget my bags I always say paper! They do get upset with that, and if it's something wet I ask for DOUBLE bags! Not something baggers are told to do. They used to double bag all the time, but now you have to ask!

[Hestia]

21. My m-i-l crocheted an outdoor rug with plastic bags - keeps them out of the

landfill, will last for years, and looks really cool. Do a search for crocheting with bags, and you'll see quite a few items that look great. Agree though, the bags should be banned outright.

[proudohioan]

26. Hey, I like that one!

I never would have thought that a person could get that creative with plastic bags! Pretty cool idea!
:)

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I am trying to figure out

why there is this assumption that all the bags swirling around the sidewalks and caught in trees are actually coming from the supermarkets. :shrug: Does this mean that the average supermarket customer comes out of the store, empties their purchases from the bags into their car, and then casually tosses the bags away? Maybe some might be doing this but IMHO, I think the problem is more with fast food street vendors, small grocery and convenience stores (like 711), and small item retailers.

The biggest issue with the poor is that they often must either walk (although a small personal shopping cart helps) or catch public transit to the supermarket (and so many urban poor lack access to any supermarket at all), and thus bags with handles have always been a godsend. I am not a fan of Whole Foods but I have noticed that they give out paper shopping bags with handles. I expect however, that because their products come at a premium, that added cost pays for such.

The recent proliferation of inexpensive re-usable cloth or vinyl weave bags has helped, although I am now seeing less and less people dragging 5 or 6 of these to the supermarket near me. I expect that they may be finding this cumbersome and awkward to do, given the obsession in many urban supermarkets for store guards and personnel scoping customers for shoplifting... In addition, the shopper has to very carefully limit their purchasing to ensure that it all fits in the bags they brought. The past 40 years resulted in a proliferation of excess packaging (particularly boxed products) designed to maximize the product's placement on a shelf and deceive the purchaser into thinking they are getting more for their money (thus all those label disclaimers about products being "sold by weight, not volume", but ultimately becoming wastefully inefficient when placed in a bag.

In the U.S. of the recent past (say '60s and before), so many goods were actually delivered to a household, including milk (and other dairy), butter, eggs, bread, baked goods - essentially the perishables. As a kid, I remember the milkman who delivered to our house. Now all of that is gone, with the exception of some supermarkets that will actually deliver to residences (after the customer orders their groceries online), but naturally this comes at some premium. In essence, modern society has been relegated to the supermarkets or groceries for just about everything and that has become burdensome to get it all home to avoid having to shop every day.

There definitely is a need for purely recyclable plastic bags and I've read a few articles recently where work is being done on this.

As a side note, the tax per bag was being pushed here in Philadelphia and was soundly torpedoed. It seems that a full evaluation of the dynamics of what is going on needs to be done in order to stop the knee-jerk reactions and actually develop true reform to reduce or eliminate the problem.

[WriteDown]

36. I remember the milkman too!

Growing up in NY. It was a fantastic service. Now I'm in Dallas and checked to see if that service stll exists. No such luck.

[BumRushDaShow]

43. A whole delivery industry that has vanished

My mom talks about growing up in the '30s, not only with the milkman and breadman (where sliced bread was just starting to proliferate), but the iceman and fishman who would roll up and down the streets with their carts. The few things left that they had to go to the grocery for were flour (or grains/cereals), sugar, salt, spices, coffee/tea, and maybe some canned goods if the person (or family member or neighbor) hadn't already canned the products themselves. You would go to a butcher to get your meat and some sold fish as well. Fruits and veggies were found at stands and only eaten in season (unless canned).

[LWolf]

44. I enjoyed milk delivery all the way through the 80s, when

the local dairy finally stopped. I'd LOVE to get perishables delivered.

I don't shop often, and when I do, I get a large load of stuff. I don't know how many canvas bags that would take. It's a 15 mile round trip to the grocery store, so I stock up.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Time to break out the crochet needles!

The WalMart bags make a nice blue tone on the handle:






http://www.needlepointers.com/ShowArticles.aspx?NavID=593

[SoCalDem]

42. I love my canvas shopping bags..I don't see it as an inconvenience at all

and have used them for a long time already. Those stupid plastic bags were the dumbest idea ever..glad to see some of them go..

We keep two laundry baskets in our trunk too.. keeps things from falling over when turning corners..and makes carry-in even easier..

[Veruca Salt]

45. They already do this in some groceries and stores here

And it's great because a lot of people buy the reusable bags instead! This should be law all over IMHO.

[anigbrowl]

47. "first such initiative in the United States" ...nope.

We have had this in San Francisco for a while. It works too; there's less litter and both stores and customers end up saving money.