Washington slaps fee on plastic shopping bags

[Sari]

Residents of the US capital may have to dig a little deeper into their pockets when they go grocery shopping once the city slaps a five-cent levy on each plastic bag issued at the checkout line.
The measure, which takes effect on January 1, 2010 and is the first such initiative in the United States, seeks to make consumers bear the brunt of clean up costs for the bags which currently are dispensed for free with a customer's purchases.

Plastic bags, while popular with shoppers, often end up clinging to tree branches, tangled in power lines, polluting rivers and clogging up storm drains.

"I signed this law in July to cut down on the disposable bags that foul our waterways," said Mayor Adrian Fenty in a statement last month, saying that one particularly urban waterway, the city's Anacostia River, has been particularly befouled by the plastic shopping bags......


Link: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

[scrounger]

I think this is a wonderful idea!!
Our supermarkets have been doing this for some time now. It makes taking re-usable bags shopping a much better idea!

John

[TeXaCo]

[antitox]

Yeah...I'm suuuurrrre that making the public pay 5 cents a bag is going to stop the cloggage.

This is the kind of brain-dead activity we have in this country. They don't fix anything, they just get more money.

I know what that stupid mayor was thinking: "wow, a way to get more tax money!"

There ya go.

[Mitsy]

We've gone green and carry our recycle shopping bags everywhere we go. Not paying stupid bag tax for the government to have more money to spend on their wine and cheese nights.

[lyngraphics]

[Sari]

I agree.

[kim0515]

This is getting out of control, you see Target started for every reusable bag you use they will give you a .05 cent credit, I think that is a good idea and also it is between the bussiness and the customers not the government getting their nose into it.

[antitox]

Hey, if 8 bags saves you a whopping 40 cents, then by all means save your green baggies.

I can see it now; customers instructing bagger to place as much in each plastic bag as possible to save those cents - and thereby reduce the mayor's clogging syndrome.

This is insanity.

How bout this forecast if the trend continues as-is:

The Green Loons spread into every locale and none of us will escape Mother Earth worship. Taxes will rise and government will officiate all Mother Earth agendas including water rationing, electricity monitoring, national ID, Muslim call to prayer, a global tax, population control, GPS monitoring on autombiles, a chip on each person, cellphone monitoring with chip inclusion, cameras on every street corner, and health centers in every county to ensure pregnancy rates are within mandate, and private radio or TV stations are prohibited. "Remember, true patriotism serves the state."

[heart_changed99]

I think this is a wonderful idea!!
Our supermarkets have been doing this for some time now. It makes taking re-usable bags shopping a much better idea!

John

Um, not for people who like to collect plastic shopping bags, such as myself. I actually reuse plastic bags for other things. Those bunch of GW baboons!

[antitox]

Um, not for people who like to collect plastic shopping bags, such as myself. I actually reuse plastic bags for other things. Those bunch of GW baboons!

I use mine for small trash bags.

[ThePenguin]

This is definitely a bad idea. I mean, we use reusable shopping bags because they hold a lot more and don't cut into your hand when you carry them. However, it's nice that we can still get plastic bags because sometimes we forget to bring the reusable ones to the store and then we can use the plastic ones for when we scoop kitty litter, for bringing stuff places, etc. If people want to use plastic bags, let them.

[in_his_stead]

I sometimes bring a medium/large plastic bin with me and put in my shopping cart and tell them no bags.

Now I will be doing it all the time. I need to keep every nickel I can!

[heart_changed99]

Why not just bring a wheel barrel in the store and haul groceries out redneck style? I just might do that. Maybe, I'll just buy my own shopping cart!!

[antitox]

I sometimes bring a medium/large plastic bin with me and put in my shopping cart and tell them no bags.

Now I will be doing it all the time. I need to keep every nickel I can!

Good idea, IHS. Just throw it all in one bin and drop it in the trunk. That would be easier than carrying multiple bags as long as your load isn't too large.

[Seemomgonuts]

Having seen this tax coming a while back, I have been saving my bags. Rather than throw away our excess bags, I have put them aside for a time when I would have to pay for them. When it comes time to pay, I will use them until they run out, then rely on other methods. I will not pay for these things. LOL if they think I will.

[twinkle]

I remember "them" making us switch to plastic bags instead of paper bags to "save a tree". "They" made us switch because it was "their" "better" idea. Now "they" goofed up and want us to pay for "their" ill conceived idea to switch to plastic. What's wrong with this picture?

Oh, "they" don't want you to remember that it was "their" idea in the first place! "They" want to blame YOU for using plastic.

I've been on this merri-go-round before. Please stop and let me get off!

[antitox]

I remember "them" making us switch to plastic bags instead of paper bags to "save a tree". "They" made us switch because it was "their" "better" idea. Now "they" goofed up and want us to pay for "their" ill conceived idea to switch to plastic. What's wrong with this picture?

Oh, "they" don't want you to remember that it was "their" idea in the first place! "They" want to blame YOU for using plastic.

I've been on this merri-go-round before. Please stop and let me get off!

Good point. It has all been their controlling hand from the gitgo, then when it goes bad, we get a tax.

Wonderful.

[ThePenguin]

I remember "them" making us switch to plastic bags instead of paper bags to "save a tree". "They" made us switch because it was "their" "better" idea. Now "they" goofed up and want us to pay for "their" ill conceived idea to switch to plastic. What's wrong with this picture?

Oh, "they" don't want you to remember that it was "their" idea in the first place! "They" want to blame YOU for using plastic.

I've been on this merri-go-round before. Please stop and let me get off!

[tardisdoctor]

Reusable bags can be gross. I used to work at Wal-Mart, and I would get a few customers every now and then who would ask me to stuff all of their stuff into the reusable bags. That included poorly wrapped chicken meat (those containers have a tendency to pour out juice) next to other food items.