Starting in January 2009, Seattle shoppers who forget to bring along reusable bags will be charged 20 cents for every disposable paper or plastic bag they use to carry home their purchases at grocery, drug and convenience stores.

Other U.S. cities have banned the use of plastic bags, but Seattle is believed to be the first to charge a fee to discourage the use of disposable bags and to reduce the amount of paper and plastic that end up as litter or in landfills.

Charging Fees for Disposable Bags Has Worked Elsewhere
Still, the idea of imposing fees on disposable bags is neither untried nor unproven—a similar program in Ireland reduced plastic-bag use by 90 percent—and there is a lot of environmental value in encouraging consumers to carry reusable bags. Americans use about 100 billion plastic bags and many millions of paper bags every year, yet fewer than 3 percent of plastic bags and only about half of paper bags used by U.S. consumers are ever recycled.

City officials expect the fee to generate about $3.5 million annually, which will be used for other recycling programs and administrative costs, but the new program also benefits local businesses. Large retailers will be allowed to keep a nickel for every 20-cent disposable bag fee they collect, while small stores that gross less than $1 million annually can keep the entire fee. Presumably, the amount of money generated by the new fees will decrease over time as more people switch to reusable bags.

Seattle to Provide Reusable Bags Free
One objection to the fee on disposable bags is that it could be hard on low-income people, especially since it comes at a time when high prices on everything from food to gasoline are already straining many household budgets. To help mitigate that problem, the City of Seattle plans to provide at least one free reusable bag to every Seattle household, and the Seattle City Council, which approved the fee, told Seattle Public Utilities to develop a plan by the end of November to provide extra bags to low-income households.

Seattle Demonstrates Environmental Leadership
Under the leadership of Mayor Greg Nickels and a progressive City Council, Seattle is becoming a model of environmental stewardship and sustainability for other cities to follow. The fee on disposable bags is just one of several steps Seattle city officials have taken to improve the environment, including:

• Foam food containers: In January 2009, polystyrene or Styrofoam containers, such as clamshell boxes at fast-food and takeout restaurants, will be banned from businesses that serve food.
• Plastic food containers and plastic utensils: In July 2010, plastic containers and utensils will be banned from businesses that serve food. They must switch to compostable or recyclable alternatives.
• Foam trays for raw meat and seafood: In July 2010, foam trays that hold raw meat or seafood will be banned from grocery stores.
• Mandatory recycling: Seattle has a mandatory recycling program, which requires all households and businesses to keep recyclable material out of their garbage cans or face fines and other penalties. Seattle now recycles 44 percent of its trash, compared to about 30 percent on average for cities nationally. Seattle’s goal is to recycle 60 percent of its trash by 2012, and 72 percent by 2025.
• Ban on bottled water in city offices: In 2008, Mayor Greg Nickels ordered city departments to stop buying bottled water and to begin using tap water.
• Kitchen recycling: In April 2009, Seattle households will be required to recycle food scraps, which will be mixed with yard waste at recycling centers and turned into compost that will be sold at garden centers throughout the Pacific Northwest.
• Global warming: In 2005, when the Kyoto Protocol took effect without U.S. ratification, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels challenged other mayors throughout the United States to join Seattle in taking local action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce global warming, a move that led to the creation of the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and participation by hundreds of U.S. cities.

People who tend to lean libertarian may object to a city trying to force behavioral changes on its citizens, but it’s pretty clear that relying solely on voluntary action isn’t doing enough to control litter and pollution, make better use of our natural resources, and achieve environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, if you don’t happen to live in Seattle, there’s nothing to prevent you from switching to reusable bags yourself, encouraging your friends and neighbors to do the same, and maybe even starting a citywide or statewide campaign to make the change official—and perhaps mandatory.

_{Photo of a discarded plastic bag caught in a thorn bush -- Matt Cardy/Getty Images}

Also Read:

• City council approves bag fee, foam ban -- The Seattle Times
• Seattle’s Recycling Success Is Being Measured in Scraps -- The New York Times
• Why Stop Using Plastic Bags?
• Reusable Bags: Paper, Plastic, or Something Better?