The fine should be lowered - to 10 cents maybe. A quarter per bag is a lot. That said, I don't understand why this would unfairly affect the poor and elderly? Are they somehow less able to use reusable bags? If the issue is the cost of the reusable bags, people should understand that you don't have to buy a fancy bag to put your food in. I've been using my own bags all my adult life, and for a lot of that time, was using a backpack or other random totebags I had around my house. Of course, if you have a big family, you will need a lot more bags, so the city also could make reusable bags available to city residents, and subsidize the cost of them.

I've been following this "issue" since its inception last year (http://bit.ly/nHICk) when James Kraft made the comparison between plastic bags and Attrition.

The bottom line is still the same. People are being stretched to the point of being threadbare as it is with the economy, imposing fees on plastic bags is an absolutely unfair and unnecessary measure which will do nothing except royally piss people off.

I don't care if "people haven't been listening" quickly enough for Bill Henry's taste, his comment illustrates perfectly the "legislate your bad habits away" mentality that our state and local governments have had for generations.

Furthermore, every single grocery store I have been to in the area has begun carrying reusable canvas bags and offering rebates on reusing the plastic bags they hand out. The tide is changing, without the need for legislation.

But then again, woo 6 million dollars suuuuure is a lot for the city to take from its citizens!

Shoppers Warehouse at the Southside Marketplace refunds $0.05 from the total grocery bill for every re-usable bag the customer brings in - this doesn't bring funds to the City, but it does encourage re-usable and could help the poor and elderly if they took advantage of the program.

I think this is fine. I forget to bring my reusable bags frequently. After few times of being charged, I'll remember.

Plastic bags are an issue in the City.

I think they shall introduce a line of "designer" reusable grocery bags!

Before there were plastic bags or even paper bags, there were reusable bags and people did not go broke because of using reusable bags nor did the world end.

Worried about having to buy reusable bags? Then frequent the stores that offer them for free or at a reduced price. As we've seen around the US, when these laws pass, then stores respond accordingly to attract customers.

Personally, I prefer organic cotton shopping bags that can be easily washed and are made from a renewable resource. There are bags from recycled plastic that can be made small and easy to carry if you really need a lot of bags for shopping and want an easy way to transport them.

I've been using the same reusable cotton bags for many years and haven't needed to make much of an investment to get them. I'm not rich either.

Really, with all the troubles facing us, let's just do the simple, commonsense thing and carry our own bags. A throwaway society only leads to more economic troubles in the end. Do yourself, your community, and the environment a favor by ending opposition to the tax and moving forward to tackle other issues.

Bags that cost money should be a bit sturdier than those flimsy things which they usually use so freely in the stores. I buy ten items and get 7 bags. Those bags are by far the biggest problem regarding trash blowing around. Those and the small snack packs in those small aluminum foil fresh bags which people discard freely into the streets and sidewalks. I am for a bag-fee or for banning thin plastic bags altogether.

Its high time, we need to realize the harm plastic bag does and why we should not use plastic bags? I was shocked to learn that plastic bags take anywhere between 400 to 1000 years to vanish. I guess the ultra thin plastic bags are real culprit, we need to use plastic baskets though they are bit difficult to carry but can be used over and over thus reducing the usage of ultra thin plastic bags. Thanks for the article.