I think the 25 cent fee for either paper or plastic bags makes the most sense. Just banning them outright would be extremely frustrating for those times when you're already at the checkout and forgot to bring reusable bags. A ban would also discourage business when you want to make an unexpected purchase of something that would be difficult to carry without a bag.

It would also be nice for exceptions for fresh meat, dairy, etc. that can be messy and make reusable bags smell bad.

Though, if people would just recycle the bags at grocery stores instead of tossing them in the street, we wouldn't need any legislation on this at all.

A bag ban like D.C.'s is a horrible system. It does not eliminate bags, it only minimally punishes behavior that is frowned upon by green types. The rules and exemptions are complicated, labyrinthine and confusing to consumers and merchants alike. It is orchestrated to intentionally make things difficult for people who forget to remember to grab bags before they head off to work.

San Francisco's is far superior. Ban merchants from providing plastic bags. Do not tax biodegradable bags. If people do not like the biodegradable bags, they can opt to carry around reusable bags, but nobody is subject to be burdened with a little *tsk tsk* fine for being evil and using plastic bags that shouldn't be available in the first place.

Don't haf the grocery stores in this town *already* charge for plastic bags? Save a Lot. Does ... I don't even think Aldi has plastic bags for sale.

What a terrible idea Baltimore. DC's bag tax is hurting small businesses.

Watch the video in the link below (at the bottom of the page) to see how DC's bag tax is harming business:

http://www.examiner.com/x-3108-Baltimore-Republican-Examiner~y2010m1d25-Why-is-RawlingsBlake-bothering-Federal-Hill-residents

Placing a 25 cent fee on plastic bags is not good policy. It places an unfair burden on the poor and will do little to reduce litter.

First, it is simply unfair to expect the working poor of this city to pay an additional 25 cents for each bag they need at the grocery store. That could really add up if you think about how many bags it takes for each trip to the grocery store, especially if you have kids. Not everyone can afford to buy a bunch of canvas bags at one time to avoid this ridiculous tax. I know the City doesn't want to discourage people from feeding their children, but ultimately a policy like this will come down to sacrificing food for the plastic bag tax.

Second, placing a tax on plastic bags is a pretty roundabout way to discourage littering. There HAS to be a better way. The Council just needs to think harder.

Unless the City is prepared to supply everyone a sufficient number of canvas bags for when they grocery shop, this fee should not even be considered.

Has anyone checked to see how well it's worked elsewhere?

Won't change my behavior a bit, other than perhaps make me more likely to buy things that go in plastic bags in the county, or make sure every bag I get at Safeway has cheese, butter, meat, milk or eggs in it. How is that even enforced? Bag Police at the grocery store door?

Just a bad idea all around. Instead, maybe crack down on the actual individuals littering/polluting?

When I have walked out of my house I find items such as clear hinge containers, cups, pizza boxes, and soda cans. The bags get the largest notice because they are easy to pinpoint but maybe if the city would put out more trash cans there would be less trash in the city.

What a great idea. They have been doing it in Europe for years. The stores offer Bags for Life for free. They give you a very substantial bag that you can replace when it is torn or whatever. You bring it everytime you shop. It is easy to do and they do keep plastic bags for sale if you forget to bring in your other types of bags. We need to be doing something. These plastic bags are a menace. It just takes a bit of retraining, that is all.

Go onto savebackiver.org and look at the pictures. You will see why it is so important to reduce the amount of plastic.

Fact - debris caused by plastic bags is real. Unfortunately, solutions aren't easy. The 25 cent fee sounds workable, but there's issues w/that too. I grew up without plastic grocery bags and it wasn't about being a 'green type' Everyone carried shopping bags - mostly heavy paper and there were some plastic varieties, also. These same bags were kept and reused many times. It requires a change in thinking and will probably eventually come full circle. In the meantime, we'll just have to keep picking them out of trees, bushes, streams and on and on....

Sure- go after the individual polluters - but that costs a LOT of money. The BEST idea all around is to BAN them. If need be you should be able to purchase paper, it decomposes. Anyone who thinks plastic is ok clearly doesn't do any hiking near rivers to see the monumental problem these cause. What exactly will that 25 cent fee go to? Cleaning up pollution? Highly unlikely. How about 3 free canvas "sponsored by x company" shopping bags for every shopper in the city? At this point you can manufacture them for pennies.

For those who point to the Washington, DC bag law, are you aware that the law requires any retailer which sell any food item (candy, etc.) to charge a fee for each bag (plastic or paper) even though the bag is not used for packing food. For example, if you buy clothing, etc at a department store and they happen to sell a food time such as candy, you have to pay a fee for the bags they put your clothing purchases in. Another example, many stores like Ace Hardware sell some snack candy items and they also have to charge for bags used to pack any hardware items bought.

And why ban paper bags? Unlike plastic, paper does not last a long time. Also, trees are grown specifically for paper manufacture and as those trees are logged, replacement trees are planted.

This is not a tax on the poor. Nobody has to pay the tax - all you have to do is to carry your items in your hands, backpack, purse, or any other kind of bag. You can buy reusable bags for as little as $1 each or you can also re-use plastic or paper bags you already have.

This method works. DC's bag "tax" has already cut bag use in half, in less than two months. It will probably continue to drop as people adjust their habits and remember to bring their own bags.

Remember that many stores catering to low-income customers, such as Aldi, have been doing this for years. (Not to mention, uh, the entire continent of Europe.)

As the mid-Atlantic Sales Manager for one of the largest poly-bag producers in the world, I suggest a simpler solution.
There is an additive that can be put into the bag upon production that makes the bag 100% biodegradable. It adds 10% to the cost, but solves the problem of bag waste. Once the additive is used the bag breaks down with light and heat by bacteria much in the same way that leaves from trees do. Unfortunately, not many suppliers or end user retailers want to pay the extra 10% to protect the environment. Paper bags are not an environmental alternative to plastic because of the huge amounts of energy used to manufacture and also to ship the product to its destination.
In Canada where there are stricter environmental laws than here nearly every bag made contains this EPI additive to make the bag OXO-Biodegradable. We are behind the times for sure compared to other places with long term green initiatives.

My questions regarding the EPI additive is how quickly they biodegrade and whether they will degrade if they get stuck in bushes and trees, etc. Getting them to degrade in a landfill isn't the problem so much as it is having bags 30 feet up in the air, stuck in a tree, or blowing up and down the streets like tumbleweeds. I, for one, am tired of cleaning them up. A flat-out ban will work in a way that a tax never will. I don't buy the "poor" argument, either. We're already paying for the bags. They're just a hidden cost that's included in the food price. You can make your own bags cheaply and effectively, if you can't afford a commercial bag. What do you think people did back when supermarkets didn't offer bags?

Yes! Please!

While plastic bag makers wholeheartedly support the City Council’s goals of reducing waste and litter in the Baltimore community, a ban or tax on plastic bags could actually increase environmental and economic troubles for Baltimore residents. How? Banning plastic bags would cause most people switch to paper bags, which require more energy and resources to produce and recycle, and they generate more greenhouse gas emissions.

And bag bans don’t decrease litter. After San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags, a city audit revealed that litter didn’t decrease following the ban.

Bag bans can also impede efforts to recycle. Folks need to remember that those collection bins at grocery stores aren’t limited to grocery bags; they also accept lots of other kinds of bags, wraps from paper towels and toilet tissue; and dry cleaning bags. Taxing or banning plastic bags just encourages stores to stop collecting these materials for recycling, which makes it harder for folks to recycle. That’s moving in the wrong direction.

So what works? Litter prevention programs work, and so do bag recycling programs. Shoppers should be encouraged to use reusable bags when they can; to reuse plastic carryout bags at home and when walking the dog; and to return any remaining plastic bags to grocery store
recycling bins. Together, we can make a difference.

Shari Jackson
Progressive Bag Affiliates
American Chemistry Council
Arlington, VA 22209
703.741.5000
www.plasticbagfacts.org

I'm all for the bag ban. Now that we have one + one, almost everything can go out, but not the bags. While I usually put my reusable bags back in the car as soon as I use them, I somehow cannot remember to take the plastic bags back to the store for recycling.

I also don't buy the argument that that paper bags are more expensive. I've been in the store where a bagger will put a single item in a plastic bag and you might end up with a dozen or more if you are buying a lot of things that might fit in a couple of paper bags. And, more often than not, the items are double bagged.

One thing store clerks could do would be to just ask if a bag is needed before automatically giving one to the customer.

My husband and a friend have been "de-bagging" trees in the Butchers Hill/Patterson Park area for over ten years. It is amazing how many they have pulled down.

Many of the plastic bags loose in the environment got there by accident. Just a small gust of air can blow a plastic bag from a vehicle, your hand, a trash can, or anywhere else. Even the best-intentioned user can easily lose control of a plastic bag inadvertently. Once they are in the environment, they are particularly problematic because they snag in tree branches above and roots along stream beds, they are frequently mistaken by animals for food, and they block stormwater management drains and pipes. Lastly, they are made from a nonrenewable resource that never fully degrades--it just becomes pieces too tiny for us to perceive. Plastic bags are a useful item that is easily reused and/or recycled, but reducing our consumption of them can only help the environment. I support a tax because it combines availability when they are needed with a reason to avoid them when they're not.

If they ban plastic bags, dog poop on the sidewalks will substantially increase.

I routinely ask for paper bags when grocery shopping and am astounded at the number of times I am told there are none available. Sometimes it is true; other times, there is simply lack of initiative on the part of the check-out person who is too lazy to walk to another check out aisle to get some paper bags! I would propose making paper bags the default and a requirement -- all stores must have them, with plastic bags only by request.

Part of my JOB for the city of Baltimore is to pick up trash in Parks. ( Yes, I have a four year degree in Recreation and Parks Management, How did you know?) Most of the plastic bags end up in our urban stream valleys; The Herring Run , the Jones Falls and the Gwynns Falls Not to mention the entirety of the Direct Harbor. WE (city residents) already pay for plastic bags! Has anyone asked how much our city alone pays to clean up this mess from our streets, waterways and parks. OUR TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING USED TO CLEAN UP THESE BAGS. I would love to not have to spend hours of my day unwrapping the shredded and entangled bags off of branches along the waterways and parks and focus on programming for communities. Plastic bags make our communities look trashy stuck in the trees gutters and streams.

Absolutely BAN plastic grocery bags. I've been reading numerous right wing kook types claiming this is a "communist" move.The so-called "communist" burden would cost around 50 cents to $2 a month IF you didnt bring your own bags. Would cost you nothing if your own bags were used.
And some conservative types are complaining because they use a small part of their plastic trash for a couple other reasons, such as picking up dog poop. Dog poop ? Really ? Maybe you Republicans can gather together and between a few hundred of you, maybe you can have the collective brain power to overcome this so-called "burden". Dog poop ? "What are we to do ?? The horror ! How did our forefathers suffer under such conditions ??" Discuss it. Brain storm. I'm confident you will come up with a solution. This is your pathetic reason for opposing a ban on what the Sierra Club describes as the #1 source of trash on polluted beaches ? Obviously, the trash is widespread and a simple and cheap solution is available.
Equally obvious, we have this American Chemistry Council making fraudulent suggestions under the guise of "caring" for the issues at hand. Come on, Shari-- "Bag bans can also impede efforts to recycle" Really now, Shari ? Sales of your industry's product would be your concern. Why do you trade groups insult people's intelligence so often with your insincere concern ? It's pathetic that you do it. And even more pathetic that it works so often on certain ignorant groups of people. In addition, your so-called solution just isn't as effective as an outright ban. So despite your transparently phony claim of being a good citizen, your idea is just not as effecive at fixing the problem as an outright ban.
Again, the solution is a ban. It's cheap, effective, and easy. And no one that currently uses their own bags claims it's an onerous burden. So get over yourselves, you whiny cry baby conservatives.