Washington, DC, has started charging shoppers 5 cents for every paper or plastic bag they carry away from stores and restaurants that sell food and/or alcohol--and any bags that DC businesses do give to their customers must now be recyclable. The measure, which took effect on January 1, 2010, is intended to make the nation's capital a greener city in two ways:
- First, by reducing the number of paper and plastic bags that end up in landfills or as litter in waterways or alongside roads.
- Second, by creating a source of revenue to finance the Anacostia River cleanup.
A 2008 study by the DC Department of the Environment found that plastic bags comprise 47 percent of the trash in the tributaries of the Anacostia River and 21 percent in the river itself.
DC businesses will keep a penny or two of the fee they charge for paper and plastic bags, and the rest will go to the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund. DC officials expect to raise about $3.6 million for river cleanup during the first year, but that amount could drop in subsequent years as more people switch to reusable bags for most of their shopping.
Bag manufacturers, who opposed the measure, claim the new fee will cost Washington families $5 million in 2010. But that assumes that DC shoppers continue to pack their groceries and other purchases home in 100 million disposable bags each year, instead of choosing to save money by switching to reusable bags. Looked at another way, the new fee provides an economic incentive for Washingtonians to eliminate the need for up to 100 million disposable bags every year.
Some large retailers in Washington, DC, also opposed the new fee when it was first proposed, but quickly came on board once the decision was made. Many retailers now display stickers that read, "Skip the Bag, Save the River," and chains such as Giant, CVS and Safeway are giving away free reusable bags to their customers to help ease the transition. The DC government is also distributing thousands of free reusable bags to seniors and low-income Washington residents. Some businesses are also offering a 5-cent credit to customers who bring their own bags, so shoppers can save the 5-cent fee and earn an additional 5 cents, just for carrying a reusable bag.
Washington, DC, isn't the first place to try phasing out disposable bags. San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags in 2008, as did China, while voters rejected Seattle's effort to impose a 20-cent per-bag fee in 2009. A year after China imposed its ban on the sale, use and production of plastic bags, Chinese officials reported that plastic bag use had dropped by two thirds (a reduction of 40 billion plastic bags compared to previous years) and the nation had saved the equivalent of 1.6 million tons of oil with no adverse effect on retail sales. And Ireland reduced plastic-bag use by 90 percent after it started charging a fee for disposable bags.
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Comments
When we trail ride, it’s so disappointing to see numerous discarded plastic shopping bags waving like flags, 40 ft up trees, 3 miles from the nearest road. I’ve read the bags’ inventor is also disappointed and is working on a biodegradable model.
So I’m not defending irresponsible use of plastic bags, but- will this 5 cent “tax” discourage use of them? When you need 15 bags to get a week’s shopping home, are you going to lug around that many cloth bags consistently?
Isn’t this really just another way for the govt to get into our pockets in the name of “The Environment?”
How will this help the river cleanup when MD and VA aren’t opposing the same 5 cent fee on bags? What’s stopping people from going across the border to MD or VA to shop? This is just another way for the DC government to get into the pockets of families in the name of environment, specifically targeting low-income families that don’t have a vehicle to shop in the different cities.
Who thought of this?
I’ve been bringing my own cloth bags for almost 20 years. When we lived in an apartment, I didn’t want to make numerous trips between our place and the car as the plastic bags can’t hold a lot in them. At that time it was for the convenience of fewer trips in the rain to bring in the groceries. Now it’s also for the environment.
Up topic, Guido was saying he didn’t want to lug around 15 cloth bags to get a week’s shopping. Actually, you wouldn’t. My cloth bags are capable of carrying much more weight and items in them and they don’t tear. What would be carried in 15 plastic bags would probably fill about 4 cloth ones, depending on what you’re buying. The only things that don’t go in them are things like cat litter canisters, 12 pack canned sodas and large packages of paper products.
I concur with Debra regarding the efficacy of cloth bags as compared to the thin plastic bags. My wife and I need 3-5 bags on average when we shop, so it is not inconvenience, in terms of the ’strength’ of the bags, that deter folks from using them — it is merely habit and the convenience of ‘remembering’ to bring them along. A five cent bag fee is a good incentive to aid in remembering.
Carrying around a bag or two is really no big deal. Have you ever heard of chico bags? They tiny and strong!