Hold the Bag, Save the Dough

I've traveled to Washington D.C. only a handful of times (and counting!), but here's a story about a girl, a carton of Soy Milk, a plastic bag, and a 5-cent tax. A tax, yes, in the sense I had to part with my hard-earned cash, but a brilliant, potentially-revolutionizing tax that in my eyes, is a progressive step towards greener communities and more sustainable environments.

Before you think I'm crazy, first things first:

1.) No. I do not enjoy paying taxes.
2.) I don't think anybody in their right mind particularly enjoys paying taxes. (If you do, let me in on your secret).

So now, here goes the little story: I purchased a carton of soy milk at a natural foods market this past weekend in D.C. The cashier inquired if I needed a plastic bag. The thought crossed my mind and I briefly debated her question in my head. Pictures of tattered plastic bags blowing in the wind fluttered through my cerebrum. But, against my better judgement, I said yes - "Sure, throw it all in a plastic bag." Side note: I had some other things to carry at the time, I always reuse plastic bags anyway, and my thinking was that it would be handy to consolidate my goodies for fear of dropping them splat all over the sidewalk.

Big mistake. To my out-of-towner dismay after glancing down at my freshly-printed receipt, I had just paid a whopping 5-cents for that flimsy plastic bag. What was that all about?!

Turns out, on January 1 of this year, a 5-cent tax law came into effect for Washington D.C. One of the first of its kind in the nation, the tax is designed to change consumer behavior and limit pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed - specifically, the Anacostia River with collected revenue directed specifically towards the clean-up project. Under regulations created by the D.C. Department of the Environment, bakeries, delicatessens, grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores that sell food, as well as restaurants, street vendors, liquor stores and "any business that sells food items," are required to charge the tax on paper or plastic bags. Signage is posted at the register explaining the law, and vendors must ask the customer if he or she would like a bag-with-purchase. As an incentive, stores keep one cent of every five cents they charge for bags, and two cents if they give customers a credit of at least five cents for each bag (of any sort) that they bring to the store.

Slightly inconvenient, yes. But totally worth getting into the habit of toting along a reusable bag to avoid the additional charge. It's a win-win situation, really. Cut down on disposable bag consumption and simultaneously aid the Watershed clean-up. And the tax is working. Already within a few months, District residents have drastically reduced their use of disposable bags and have adopted using reusable ones more quickly than expected. The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimates that city food and grocery establishments handed out about 3.3 million bags in January, a drastic reduction compared to the estimated 22.5 million bags issued per month in 2009. And according to a recent March 29th article published by the Washington Post, the District's 5-cent bag tax generated approximately $150,000 during the month of January to help clean up the Anacostia River. (A lot of dough for a lot less paper and plastic).

To be honest, after being taxed on something so avoidable, I was slightly irritated. But, after a brief moment of frustration, my better judgement sank in. I don't know about you, but plastic bags are seemingly everywhere I look. Stuck in fences. Snarled in leaf piles in Central Park. Floating along in the East River. Being handed out two-by-two in double-bag form at Drug Stores and Supermarkets around NYC. Whether or not you believe in global warming/climate change, it can not be denied that tattered plastic bags on the ground, in rivers and streams, on the the side of the road, perhaps even in your front lawn, are unsightly and have a negative impact on the environment. Eventually, they all end up in landfills, (if not in the woods or river bottoms). Super ick.

So, while it may require a little extra planning on your next trip to the grocery store, and sure - can be a slight inconvenience from time to time, I think this tax is an incredibly effective solution for solving two pressing issues: curbing disposable bag consumption by encouraging environmentally-responsible shopping practices, and cleaning up the local environment by directing tax revenue towards the project(s).

A hands-on lesson and policy learned that was worth my 5-cents at the time. Though, you can be assured this budget-minded city dweller will be bringing along a tote bag or hand-carrying any Nation's Capital purchases in the future.