Plastic Bag Fee

[Anonymous]

Question: So if you pay 5 cents for a bag at the grocery and the checkout person shoves a box into the bag like they often do and it tears...can you go back and get a refund? I'm not trying to be cute. Is it really just a tax or are you technically purchasing the bag. Can you return the bag if you try and use it to pick up your dogs poop and you noticec a hole in it?

[Anonymous]

There's so much plastic bag litter in DC, plastic bags caught in trees along the highway, sitting in the river, floating along all the streets, etc. Why do people get so PO'd every time there's a push to reduce pollution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard a story on NPR re: when then did the same thing in Ireland, except they eliminated them, not a fee. The consumption of plastic actually increased - people had to buy plastic bags for used diapers and dog poop and the thickness of ziplock-type bags meant that actually more plastic was used.

It seems very easy to get things through the DC City Council.

We recycle but I remain unconvinced that it doesn't just get dumped in the trash as it did for years.

This is the exact opposite of what I saw reported on BBC, namely that consumption of bags in Ireland decreased 90%. Plastic bags are banned in other countries as well, including Bangladesh where they blame them for blocking sewage drains and thereby making flood season worse. I didn't hear the NPR story, but I doubt your interpretation of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reusable bags carry germs, especially when raw meats / chicken placed in them, what next, no plastic wrap, paper on raw meats... no I have to wash them? that is a drain on the environment also..

You can always ask them to bag the meats and chicken in a plastic bag and pay the nickel. I'd say that's one out of ten bags for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Are you saying there are on Applebees in Virginia and Maryland? You must be one of those simple minded DC residents, get over it.

They have TGI Fridays. Totally different.

[Anonymous]

Next will be a tax on plastic trash bags!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next will be a tax on plastic trash bags!!

Not until there's a better alternative. Quick-degrading plastics may not last the day if there's any moisture in the trash. Once there is a viable alternative, some kind of behavior-changing policy might be in order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. To clarify, I meant that you need to use double plastic bags for meat and fish so that your REUSABLE bag doesn't get any juices/bacteria on it.

That has been a problem with my bags. For awhile I even asked the cashiers to put the chicken in plastic bags and keep it separate. Why on earth can't they just seal up chicken with better plastic?

[Anonymous]

What a pathetic bunch of puppets we've all been forced to become! I ask you this - What does more damage to the environment - Nancy Pelosi's, Arianna Huffington's and OMG... Al Gore's PRIVATE jets and HUGE homes? Or plastic grocery bags. seriously?

are all of you willing to be so controlled by the government that you're allowing them to tell you what to carry your groceries in? When they're not even willing to follow their own rules?
Next they will mandate how much toilet paper to use with each wipe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a pathetic bunch of puppets we've all been forced to become! I ask you this - What does more damage to the environment - Nancy Pelosi's, Arianna Huffington's and OMG... Al Gore's PRIVATE jets and HUGE homes? Or plastic grocery bags. seriously?

are all of you willing to be so controlled by the government that you're allowing them to tell you what to carry your groceries in? When they're not even willing to follow their own rules?
Next they will mandate how much toilet paper to use with each wipe

All together now - no one's telling you what to do. Take deep breaths.

Use plastic bags to your heart's content. You just have to pay for them now. Simple, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a pathetic bunch of puppets we've all been forced to become! I ask you this - What does more damage to the environment - Nancy Pelosi's, Arianna Huffington's and OMG... Al Gore's PRIVATE jets and HUGE homes? Or plastic grocery bags. seriously?

are all of you willing to be so controlled by the government that you're allowing them to tell you what to carry your groceries in? When they're not even willing to follow their own rules?
Next they will mandate how much toilet paper to use with each wipe

Given what grocery bills look like compared to a few years ago, I doubt any of us would notice an extra 25. So if it bothers you to change your bag habits, use whatever you want and pay the extra few cents.

[Anonymous]

that is not the point, not sure why you're choosing to deminish the importance of what I was actually trying to point out? Typical deflection of the actual issue at hand.

I could give a hoot about $.05. It is the intent behind the action - MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROL. I think we all have enough intelligence to make our own decisions. My husband and I actually got rid of one of our cars 6 months ago, and he is now taking public trans to work so that we can do our part to help the environment. Yes, can you believe that a conservative family actually cares about the environment? what??
I choose to no longer shop in DC and am keeping my business in MoCo. And by the way, I do carry my reusable bags to the store with me - yet another way I am doing my part.

One more note - I'm willing to bet there's a ton of us ladies here who use tampons with plastic applicators. And men who use RUBBER condoms. food for thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...One more note - I'm willing to bet there's a ton of us ladies here who use tampons with plastic applicators. And men who use RUBBER condoms. food for thought.

Do I haaaave to think about tampons and condoms????

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:that is not the point, not sure why you're choosing to deminish the importance of what I was actually trying to point out? Typical deflection of the actual issue at hand.

I could give a hoot about $.05. It is the intent behind the action - MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROL. I think we all have enough intelligence to make our own decisions. My husband and I actually got rid of one of our cars 6 months ago, and he is now taking public trans to work so that we can do our part to help the environment. Yes, can you believe that a conservative family actually cares about the environment? what??
I choose to no longer shop in DC and am keeping my business in MoCo. And by the way, I do carry my reusable bags to the store with me - yet another way I am doing my part.

One more note - I'm willing to bet there's a ton of us ladies here who use tampons with plastic applicators. And men who use RUBBER condoms. food for thought.

To be fair, you have actually missed the point of the bag tax and also, with your complaints about Nancy Pelosi and Al Gore made deciphering your point pretty difficult. If your point was about "MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROL", I don't know what Al Gore's mode of transport has to do with it. The bag tax was put in place to raise funds to clean up the Anacostia river. Al Gore is not in the government and his airplane, as far as I know, has not been found floating in the Anacostia. Nobody is trying to control you. Rather, the DC government is trying to get some of your hard earned cash in order to clean up a river that they otherwise can't afford to clean up. If people don't use bags (which you seem to believe is the Government's goal), no funds will be raised. So, please use bags and contribute to the fund.

In my opinion, the bag tax has been one of the best government programs ever. Some stores have reduced their bag distribution by half. It's not that people are trying to avoid paying a nickel, but that all the discussion about the tax is causing people to think about something to which they normally don't give a second thought. Fresh Fields has been giving a discount for using a re-useable bag for quite some time. If people were as interested in savings as they are acting now, they would have all been using re-useable bags all along (and I know some people, including my wife, were). Now, people are being forced to think about bags almost every time they buy something. Soon, we will adjust and it will be normal. Some will bring re-useable bags, some will pay five cents, and some will try to figure out how to carry eighteen items out of the store in their bare hands. Whatever works for you.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I got bit by the green bug early, but I really do not understand the uproar. Get some of those reusable bags, keep them in your car, and carry a larger handbag, briefcase or backpack in case you just happen to stop off at CVS for a couple of things. Who cares about the $.05? The point is to REDUCE and REUSE what we use, not just that we recycle. Of course, I have been a convert to bringing my own bags for several years now and am always looking for ways to use less. Plastic is typically made from petroleum, too, so for those of you worried about our use of foreign oil, there is another potential source for cutting.

One of these days I am going to get brave enough to ban plastic completely from my house (if only my favorite shampoo came in a glass bottle!).