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

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“We’re working to put Skin Deep out of business,” says Jane Houlihan (left), VP for Research at Environmental Working Group — the nonprofit that’s put Skin Deep together.

Skin Deep’s an eco-database that gives you safety ratings on makeup, perfume, and other personal care products. Launched in 2004, Skin Deep basically does what the FDA doesn’t do — actually give us information about products we use everyday and generally assume to be tested and safe.

I got the chance to chat with Jane when I was visiting Washington DC last month, to talk about the latest version of Skin Deep, which launched earlier this month with 1000s of new product ratings and a brand new feature: the “data gap” score.

Due to loose FDA regulations, many cosmetic ingredients haven’t been properly assessed for potential health risks. So the “data gap” score gives you a sense of whether the product’s really known to be safe, or whether it just contains many untested ingredients that’re difficult to give a firm hazard rating.

“There’s so much we don’t know about product safety,” Jane said. “What is not the right way to think about the ratings is to think that a low rating means youre buying perfectly safe products. It just means you’re avoiding KNOWN hazards.”

What currently regulates the cosmetics industry’s the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which, Jane points out, wasn’t even strong enough to ban asbestos. Basically it puts the onus on the government to prove that a chemical or ingredient is NOT safe, instead of requiring the company prove that said ingredient IS safe.

But there’s good news: The Kids-Safe Chemical Act, introduced in 2005. This legislation would overhaul the archaic and ineffective Toxic Substances Control Act. If passed, the Kids-Safe Chemical Act would require “chemicals be affirmatively proven safe for infants and children, putting the burden of proof on industry, and granting EPA unequivocal authority to request studies necessary to prove a chemical’s safety with clear deadlines to act against chemical manufacturers who fail to comply,” according to EWG.

“Let us free up our energy,” Jane says. “I don’t want women to have to spend 3 hours a day on the internet,” individually investigating cosmetics products. Besides, even if individuals do all that research and buy the safest products, they won’t be able to avoid the chemicals from these products entirely, as pollutants will enter our water and other shared resources. “You can’t buy your way out of the problem.”

Jane says she’s optimistic the Kids-Safe Chemical Act’ll pass in the next 5 years. You can track its progress, here and here.

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Okay — I seriously can’t get away from it now. Print mags have really caught on to green blog content — and I’m now swimming in a green sea of recycled paper –

Even in Washington DC, I found a free copy of the Washington Flyer in the airport. This mag, published every couple months by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, put out a green issue — showcasing inverviews with with Leonardo Dicaprio and Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute and Kermit the Frog.

Then I leafed through DC North — a monthly community mag — from which I got urban garden tips via the Philadelphia Flower Show, found out about an e-waste collection day on Saturday, April 21 (9 am – 3 pm at Carter Barron Amphitheatre Parking Lot at 16th and Kennedy), learned of a govt. sponsored rebates on energy-star stuff, and read about new full-service bike shop called The Bike Rack.

It’s all good, but if I read one more article about Leonardo Dicaprio –

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My flight out of Washington DC got moved from 5:45 to 7:30 to 7:50 pm, so here I am at the Dulles airport listening to the crazy reports about the shootings at Virginia Tech — not too far from where I am now –

Somehow I didn’t hear about this horrible news until the driver who brought me to the airport was like “you haven’t heard?” Apparently his son goes to school there –

Today’s reason for the flight delay: Wind! Crazy winds and general catastrophe have followed me here from LA….

The delay’ll have me officially spending an almost-full 24 hours in DC — It’s been a real whirlwind trip here. I’ve barely slept and my eyes feel funny —

Last night I arrived in DC late and then met David and Matthew of Environmental Working Group at Black Cat, which is like a bar, performance space, and vegan-friendly restaurant all connected into one establishment.

Smoosh performed. I felt old(er).

Then David took us on a driving tour –

So yesterday was a long day and today started early — Some stuff at EWG, then lunch. Tried to go to Busboys & Poets, but apparently they had some kitchen accident and had no warm food. So we went to this historical chili place but I’ve already forgotten the name. Yummy veggie chili, greasy fries –

First class is boarding now. I’m in “group 5,” so it’ll be a lil while. We’re looking at a 10:30 arrival in LA –

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Two Big Blue Buses and a free shuttle to LAX —

Then a flight on Alaska Air —

Then a ride on the Metrorail — and I got to Washington DC late last night.

The trains here are super clean and speedy and easy to use — but the fare structure’s really, really complicated — so complicated that after staring at the farecard machines for a while, I had to get help from the nice guy in the kiosk for help.

And luckily for me, I didn’t throw out my farecard after I got on the train — I discovered you need it again to get out of the destination station –

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A series that runs every Tuesday, where I ask questions unrelated to the environment, fair trade, or local politics that I’ve been wondering about but haven’t been able to google the answers to. Any advice is appreciated.

Going to Washington DC next weekend, for just a day. I’ve never been to DC; if you have, what do you suggest I do in the few hours of free time I’ll have?

Mainly interested in yummy coffee shops, restaurants, and bars –

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