What would happen if a plastic bag tax went into effect in L.A.? Maybe something similar to what’s been happening since New Year’s Day in Washington D.C., where a 5-cent bag tax went into effect.
While 5 cents isn’t exactly a lot of money, it appears to be enough to change people’s behavior — quickly. I got to see this change in person when I was visiting D.C. over the weekend. Many stores had prominent signs about the new tax posted on doors and near the register — like the one above I saw at a Subway — and customers were quick to react.
“It’s a nickel now, right?” said a guy, who walked in with two friends. “Okay, put them all in one bag.”
The quick adaptations people are making to the new rule makes obvious how wasteful previous habits were. Last month, each month of the trio would have probably each gotten his or her own bag, only to take the sandwich out just minutes later, discarding the bag to sit pretty much forever in a landfill!
According to The Washington Post, the new bag conserving behavior I saw at that Subway’s not the exception, but the rule now:
Managers at stores that sell food or beverages say the switchover has cut the use of plastic bags by half or more. One Safeway in Northwest reports a falloff of more than 6,000 bags a week, about half of its former volume.
Of course, a new tax can’t avoid protesters — though most of the protesting against the tax seems to come in the form of avoiding taking a bag to avoid the tax, which is a win both for the environment and the business. Many people are finally starting to make using reusable bags a part of their routine simply to avoid paying the nickel — while others are just precariously juggling items out of the store sans bag.
What I find interesting is the fact that people didn’t make such drastic efforts to save 5 cents when the nickel was deemed an incentive than a punishment. For a number of years, many big supermarkets like Ralph’s and Vons have been taking 5 cents off the shopping bills of customers who bring their own bags — yet few were taking advantage of this opportunity to save. Now that the exact same amount of money is called a tax and showing up as a line item on receipts, people are going to extraordinary lengths to save that nickel….
Earlier:
>> Bring your own bag: How to BYOB in easy eco-style
>> Plastic industry uses enviro-laws to “save” disposable bags
>> Styrofoam and the City: The fate of plastic bags and polystyrene in LA
love it! I wish they’d institute a bag fee more places. I’ve been using my own bags almost all the time since I studied abroad in the Netherlands — they charged between 35 and 50 eurocents a bag there!
Comment by Leah — January 25, 2010 @ 6:25 pm
One thing about the current thing with giving ppl 5 cents for the bag is that you really have to pay attention or about 50% (or more) of the time you won’t get it. I use the self checkout at Ralphs and they never give it there unless you ask the single cashier manning the 9 different self-checkout stations. Trader Joe’s rarely gives give-away tickets without asking. Some places that I go into every single week with my backpack still ignore the fact that I have my backpack open and ready to receive items and instead toss everything into plastic bags. I’ve never had someone give me 5 cents for not taking a bag and just carrying things out in my hand. So I wonder if it’s also that the stores are more diligent about charging 5 cents a bag when compared to giving out 5 cents per a bag.
Comment by M — January 26, 2010 @ 8:52 am
Definitely agree with M.
I just happened to review my recent Co-Opportunity receipt from this weekend. I sewed some old t-shirts into produce bags, and the cashier gave me a 5 cent credit for each of those bags too! That is why I love shopping there. I never get a weird look when I use my own bags.
Comment by Anne — January 26, 2010 @ 10:05 am
Thanks for this post Siel. I had heard a similar account from D.C. so it was encouraging to find that you had the same perspective. I really hope that Santa Monica follows suit. It’s estimated that CA uses around 8 billion Single Use Plastic bags a year, and that only about 5% are recycled…..
Comment by Sara Bayles — January 26, 2010 @ 11:58 am
A few months ago, or maybe more, one of the 99 cent stores–i think it was the one on Washington Blvd–instituted a 5 cent charge on each of their plastic bags you used.
It didn’t last long though, last time i was in, they had removed the fee. And I asked at the one on Wilshire and a few others and they never had the fee.
Comment by Lisa T — January 26, 2010 @ 1:57 pm
I’ve been wishing CA would tax people for bags for so long now (as opposed to refunding those that do). It’s the people who aren’t using reusable bags that don’t realize there are people out there getting 5 cents off- so how would that encourage new people to start BYOBagging? C’mon California, let’s get on the ball
Comment by Jessica D — January 26, 2010 @ 5:52 pm
M — Even the plastic bag refund thing aside, why torture yourself by going to the Ralphs if you know they only have 1 cashier for 9 lanes?! :P An easy first step for you may be making your main store one with better customer service! :)
As I wrote about before though — Even Vons (at least the one in SaMo) has started putting up prominent BYOB signs and BYOBers are becoming more frequent — which consequently means that cashiers get better at remembering to give people the nickel refund as they do at the Co-op and Whole Foods :)
Lisa T — Your story cracked me up. It kind of sounds like a hopeful dream you had that didn’t actually happen in real life :P Does that make me sound cynical?
Jessica — In case you didn’t see it already, I have instructions at the bottom of this post for people who want to see a plastic bag ban in L.A. We have a good chance of making this happen THIS YEAR! :)
Comment by Siel — January 28, 2010 @ 4:27 pm