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Food shoppers could face plastic bag fees
April 15th, 2008, 11:05 am · 43 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer and Blogger
Two California bills that propose charging supermarket shoppers fees for using Earth-damaging plastic bags got one step closer to reality.
In a committee hearing Monday, the two bills merged, according to state officials. If passed, the unified bill (AB 2058) proposed by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine would charge grocery shoppers up to 25 cents per plastic bag used at supermarkets, drug stores and discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target.
Levine’s proposal required a 15-cent charge for each carryout bag, while a competing bill proposed a 25-cent fee for using plastic. The 25-cent proposal (AB 2829) was authored by Assemblyman Mike Davis of Los Angeles. His staff will work with Levine’s on the combined bill.
“This is a significant victory for the environment,” Levine said. “Plastic bags are imposing a considerable cost to the environment and to California taxpayers now shelling out $285 million dollars a year for clean-up.”
It’s unclear what kind of fee will emerge when the combined bill is introduced next month in an Assembly appropriations committee. The fees apply to retailers that meet the following requirements:
- larger than 10,000-square feet and with a pharmacy
- grocery stores with annual sales of $2 million or more
The last requirement was put in place so smaller, mom-and-pop grocery stores would not be affected. The bill does not apply to department stores or fast-food chains that use plastic carryout bags.
California Grocers Association opposes mandatory plastic bag surcharges. The group said retailers are working to reduce the use of plastic bags. Last summer, a new California law went into effect, requiring grocery stores to sell reusable bags, as well as provide bins for recycling plastic bags.
That “program has only been in place for less than a year and although our members are reporting that consumers have increased their recycling efforts, it’s still too early to access the success of the program,” the trade association said.
It estimated that Californians use about 19 billion plastic grocery bags each year.
Tell us:
April 15th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Great idea, this tax. Trader Joes has some of the best re-usable bags around, for $1.99. I purchased 6 of them and keep them in my car for grocery shopping. Easy as pie.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Just what we need is another fee. You’ve already got us on CRV, what more do you want from our hard earned dollars? Grocery bills are on the rise, the last thing we need is a fee to carry our food home. I live atop at 3 story apartment and need something to carry my food to my door, and shouldn’t have to pay for it!
April 15th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
This is rediculous
April 15th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Great just what the public needs more fleecing for less representation. When these knuckleheads in government can prove that they are responsible with the funds they already steal from us THEN maybe they can mull putting more of an economic squeeze on the populace. REVOLUTION NOW.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I thought the City of Seattle was going nuts when they proposed this tax a few weeks ago. Where will the revenue from this fee go? Why do Department stores become exempt? Hmmm… I don’t know about this. in Seattle the charge will be for both paper and plastic bags.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I can remember when they introduced plastic bags to help save trees.
Unbelievable.
Next they will be telling us what kind of light bulbs to buy.
In 20 years, when the middle class has completely deserted the state of California, they can look back and thank ideas like this.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Tax the plastic bags, tax the internet, tax riding a bike, tax flying a kite. Tax it all. Oh wait that’s where this last country’s revolution was born! Can you smell it coming? It’s teargas in the air. Its the national guard on the street. Look at the world. Look at the food shortages. Rioting in China, Haiti, Egypt, India. Its all unraveling.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
This is absolutely ridiculous. I won’t carry extra bags with me like a freaking homeless person so that the state can collect yet MORE money from me! It’s time to move away from all these hippie tree huggers. Drives me crazy.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
WorldTraveler Says: I live atop at 3 story apartment and need something to carry my food to my door
I hear that there are these bags now a days that you can use more than one time. Stop wasting plastic bags everytime you go to the market. Try doing what LeeLee does and keep bags in your trunk for the times you go to the market.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
AWESOME! maybe ppl will start bringing their own bags. this is not a new concept they do this in Europe. Ikea started doing this too, and on the ad they said why they were charging you and flat out said, i hope you stop using plastic bags…they didnt want to make money off the bags (they werent anyways all the money was donated to an environmental cause)
i bring my own bags all the time, it is not that hard and i am helping the earth. call me a hippie, but someone has to help save the earth from the stupid people.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
What next charge us to breath the air or bags to take the garbage out in. I think that it should be doing things like this on our own. What does government have to involved in all parts of our lives. Why are they so worried about this when there is more important things to worry about like maybe finding money to pay teachers so that our CHILDREN can get a better education. We need to find people that can work to solve important issues and not worry about filling their own pockets with extra money.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
They keep trying to call this a fee: This is a proposed tax. Call it that.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
This is great! I have Albertsons and Trader Joe’s reusable bags in my car at all times, and you’d be amazed and how much can fit in those puppies.
I’m usually having to tell the baggers “no, I don’t need a plastic bag for a stick of deodorant,” or, “no, a big huge Target bag is not necessary for my pack of gum.”
April 15th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Stupid…Liberals suck.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I think this is wonderful. I have a bunch of reusable bags from Albertsons and Trader Joes and I use them for everything. They make groceries easy to carry and fit nearly twice as much as a plastic bag. Not to mention the fact that they don’t end up in the landfill. For those opposed to this perhaps you could look at it this way. It takes a gallon of gas to produce 13 plastic supermarket bags. So maybe being proactive and making a small investment in reusable bags will save you from having to worry about this down the road.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Why is it these bags aren’t accepted for recycling by Waste Management?
April 15th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Seriously, some of you are pathetic. Buy a freaking cloth bag that will last you 10 years and get over it. It will cost you all of $3.00.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I will not be forced to “go green.” I’ll pay the 25-cent plastic bag surcharge, but I’ll compensate for it by dumping my plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the regular trash instead of separating them out, plus anything else I can think of to tick off the green weenies.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
No problem. My east Anaheim neighbors roll their groceries home from the store in the shopping carts. The Anaheim police don’t bother with these looters, and it doesn’t look like other cities cops do either. There’s no need for bagging groceries and the carts will roll right through your front door. When finished with it just leave the cart on the sidewalk in front of your neighbors house.
April 15th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I might look crazy when I go to the supermarket because I have about 5 reusable bags but I don’t care, we all need to do our part. I also carry my bags in the car and it is so easy. Besides they hold so many groceries and I don’t have to deal the hundreds of bags in my cupboard anymore!
April 15th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Another reason for pet owners not to pick up after their dogs. Do you think they will bring reusable bags when they walk their dog?
April 15th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
People forget that it takes a lot of energy, oil, and toxins to produce a reusable bag. Reusable bags aren’t the answer to the petroleum-based disposable bags. It bugs me how people jump on these bandwagons without finding out the real facts.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
yaaaa like if they care so much about the enviroment.. why don’t they stop producing those plastic and paper bags insted of charging for it, I think they will be saving a lots of many and the enviroment. That tells you that it is all about making profit, they think we are stupid. Just stop the manufacture of it and all of us will adjust to the new system of a reusable bag.
Yvana Russo
April 16th, 2008 at 12:16 am
“call me a hippie, but someone has to help save the earth from the stupid people.”
Let me get this straight, you are “stupid” if you do _not_ believe that plastic bags are killing the Earth?
My brain hurts.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Personally, I like reusable bags. That’s just my own preference and I would never force it on someone else. No, I don’t think people should be charged for plastic bags. I do think that if everyone got just one reusable bag, it would help. But I do think that steering away from plastic altogether is not feasible. Here’s why:
I have a reusable Target bag that I purchased for $1.49. The day I bought it, I figured it was perfect for my light shopping that day, so I unfolded it and proceeded to put all of my days groceries into it. I brought it to the register, chock full of goods and with its price tag in plain view. I assumed the cashier would scan the items inside, scan the cloth bag, and refill it with the items for carryout.
The girl at the register dumped it out, scanned it, refolded it, and put it into a plastic bag. Along with the items that had been inside it.
Duh. Silly me.
People are creatures of habit. Change is hard.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:32 am
You can use your pillowcase for a grocery bag.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Nick, you can’t really believe that it cost more to use one cloth bag than 3 plastic bags, which is what I can usually get in my totes that I bring to the grocery store. Please… give me a link or something to prove your point.
April 16th, 2008 at 1:31 am
Jim, totally agree with you on the picking up after your pet issue. I don’t mind purchasing reusable bags, but what are you suppose to do to dispose of your pets waste? pay $.25?? I think people should have the option of using reusable bag or use the grocery bags. Better yet, stores should give you a discount on your purchase just for using a reusable bag, BUT not charge you the $.25. I’m sure most people don’t want a mountain-ful of plastics bags, so they would want to use the reusable bag, but there are times when you do need the plastic bags. What if you have guest overs and they need a bag to hold their stuff, do you give away your reusable bags?
April 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I never said it would cost less. I said that the effect of the environment to produce reusable plastic bags (most of the $1 bags you buy in the stores) is the same and often worse than the effect to produce the petroleum based bags that are ‘disposable’.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
As far as I know Ralph’s Does give you a discount for using a reusable bag, and they give a discount per bag used. I think it is only $0.05 but I think that they’ve got the right idea, instead of charging those who don’t use them.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
IKEA already does this. You pay a nickel per bag I think. I just buy their big blue reusable bag and they double up as great laundry bags or storage bags. I like the idea of reusable bags and wouldn’t mind bringing my own reusable bag or paying — but not 25 cents per bag, that’s bit much.
April 17th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Nick, I highly disgaree. 1 re-usable bag that can last years and eliminate the use (and waste) of hundreds of plastic bags would easily outweigh the environmental costs of those hundreds (if not thousands) of bags.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Rob, you can disagree all you want, but when presented with all the facts you would probably change your mind.
Do your homework before you disagree. That’s the problem with all this “Green” capitalism going on right now. Most people are woefully uneducated about it. The fact remains, paper bags are the best solution to all of this. They are renewable, biodegradable, less toxic to produce, etc.
This argument for and against plastic disposable bags vs. plastic reusable bags is like the ethanol vs. gasoline argument. Both are the wrong substance to use and there is a great deal of misinformation out there about ethanol, just as there is about reusable plastic bags.
If you really care about the environment, green house, and the future, you’ll educate yourself on this and many other environmental issues.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Thanks Nick, but don’t be so quick to assume that the environment is not a passion/hobby of mine. Where did I ever say I wasn’t educated about the subject? And when were we ever talking about paper bags? Wasn’t the topic about plastic bags? ;]
Anyhow, I stand correct in that re-usable shopping bags (and I never mentioned plastic re-usable bags…there are plenty of cloth options out there too, you know) outweigh the environmental costs of plastic ‘disposable’ bags. Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to assume that you know what I am talking about. It just makes you sound pompous and silly.
While it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that paper bags are a safer option, the topic here is about plastic bags, and I fully support the need to have much of this stockpile eliminated, especially in third world countries where the heavy consumption and pollution of plastic bags is quite frightening.
But apparently I need to read a book or two to be on your level. ;]
April 19th, 2008 at 2:15 am
We need to BAN plastic bags, not tax people. They do cause a lot of pollution and it’s a major problem, but it’s not the people who are at fault.
April 19th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Of course it’s going to cause some pollution to make cloth/reusable bags, but it’s still better than the mass producing of plastic bags that always end up littering all over.
About a year ago after driving across the country, my husband and I noticed this horrible burning chemical smell with our car. We couldn’t figure out what it was for a week and at that same time our car wouldn’t start a couple of times. We took the car to the dealership to find out what happened. Turns out some plastic grocery bag flew underneath our car and got stuck in there and burned while it was there! All because some dope in Oklahoma littered…
April 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Not another tax! I know liberals will love taxes such as this, but what about true conservatives. My message to the tree loving liberals, “Go hug a tree”!
April 25th, 2008 at 5:03 am
Great Idea to charge for the use of plastic bags. I work for a grocery store and people want bags for everything, Like milk.. produce that already is in a bag for example potatoes
some people want everything double bagged. Plastic bags are bad for the enviorment. If people were more considerate of the enviorment they would not have to come up with this tax to begin with. The reusable bags hold alot more and are very sturdy.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Jim…….. the bags thet you put your produce in can be reused for your pet waste
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Well I didn’t read all of them but, I do not agree with charging for bags but people do get more then what they need of bags. I know I do, but the key point is that the bags just get thrown away if people could just save their bags and return them to the store we wouldn’t have this dilemma in the first place. I’m sorry for what you guys are going to have to be paying, and it’s supper rediculous when you have to go buy all your groceries, then what?! I’m only visiting California for this summer, but it is things like this and crazy people who yell at each other over handi-cap parkings that make me glad I live in New Mexico.
^_^
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Why do people keep spelling it “rediculous”? It’s spelled “ridiculous”! Just had to get that out of my system. (I think I Like Bunny Rabbits may have been doing it to pretend to be a cute little furry creature but no one else should be spelling it with an “e”.)
June 4th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Wal-Mart.
$1.
One reusable bag.
Holds a full-sized paper bag’s worth of groceries.
Keep them in the car. Use them in the store. Take them home and unload them.
Put your car keys in the bags by the front door to go back in the car when you go back to the car.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I don’t have all the facts nor am I fully educated on the green. I’ll tell you what though….. I am doing my homework. Some of this I agree on and some I disagree. Slowly I am changing my ways with how I do things. We work too hard for our money. I used to throw my water bottles and soda cans in the blue recycler…. yes… it gets recycled but yet again… considered public domain… and I pay the CRV and as they say ” one mans trash is anothers treasure” I have stopped throwing them in the blue recycler and taking them down myself to a local recycling lot to get my money back. And I have been picking up a cloth re-usable bag when I have an extra dollar or two to spare…… becuz at some point, one day into the future we all will have to accept the “change” at the cash register. Did any of us ever think we’d be paying $5.00 a gallon for gas???? NO. But we drive and we all have accepted that “change” on a “daily” basis. Yes, there are other alternatives to that; public trans., car pool… but at some point…. you do need to take your own vehicle and fill up.
So… alot of you in these posts can save yourself a headache NOW and make a small investment rather then complain LATER when re-usable bags will cost you $5.00 each when this gets going.
Just a nice suggestion