Paper or plastic? In Seattle, we'll pay for either one
Posted
Jul 30 2008, 04:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Starting in January, Seattle shoppers may see groceries go up 20 cents per bag. That's because the City Council voted 6-1 to institute a fee for the use of paper or plastic bags at grocery, drug and convenience stores. If that doesn't get people to start bringing their own bags, I don't know what will. Twenty cents each adds up pretty quickly.
Councilmember Jan Drago, who voted against it, told the Seattle Times that the measure might make it look as though the council is not sensitive to the economic struggles of the average citizen. "It's about timing," Drago said, "not about the goal."
Here's what I think about that: There's never going to be a good time to try and get people to break a habit. They're accustomed to doing it that way and will come up with plenty of reasons why it just isn't fair to expect them to, say, stop using handheld cell phones while driving. (That's verboten in Washington state, although only 113 tickets have been issued thus far.)
The best way to break a habit? Make it too costly to continue doing it. If you don't separate your recyclables in this town, you run the risk of the city not picking up your garbage or even fining you. If you're caught littering, there's a big fine. Heck, I know a guy who got a ticket for not having a litter bag in his car. Honest.
I do feel sorry for the checkout clerks in Seattle, who will likely bear the brunt of consumer wrath about the new law. A nickel of each 20-cent fee will go to the stores for administrative costs, and the rest to the city for administration and other recycling programs. I think that another 5 cents should go toward a fund to buy aspirin and antacids, or maybe ice cream, for those poor clerks. Of course, they'd have to bring their own bags.
It's not just bags
The new law also prohibits food-service businesses from using polystyrene and Styrofoam takeout containers, beginning in January. As of July 2010 it bans those businesses from using plastic containers and utensils in favor of compostable or recyclable versions. Finally, it bans foam meat and seafood trays from grocery stores, also beginning in July 2010.
But it's the bag bounty that's getting attention. Some folks think it's unfair to expect consumers to buy reusable sacks. The city plans to give at least one bag for free to each household in Seattle, and possibly extras for low-income residents. Reusable bags are already available in supermarkets, drugstores and even home-improvement stores, as well as from numerous online vendors. The most-basic models are about 99 cents.
I know that if you're really broke, it's hard to shake loose even a dollar. But you can pay now or pay later -- forget your bag five times and you've paid enough in fees to buy a reusable sack.
Here are a few bag strategies for Seattleites, or those who want to start their own personal bans:
• Hang one reusable bag, filled with your other reusable bags, on the same hanger that holds your coat.
• Keep a bag hanging on the knob of the door you use to leave your house or apartment.
• Store several bags in the trunk of your car.
• Buy string bags or cloth bags that you can fold very small; one or two will take up very little room in your purse, briefcase or backpack. Since these bags can hold a lot, one or two might be all you need.
• Use something else to get groceries home, like a pillowcase or a plain old cardboard box.
• Sew, crochet or knit your own bag. Tipnut.com offers patterns and instructions for "35 reusable grocery bags."
Or here's an idea: Maybe you don't always need a bag. I've seen people accept a sack for a single small item: a paperback book, an inkjet replacement cartridge, a can of soup. Perhaps you could just put it in your backpack (keep that receipt!) or carry it out to the car in your bare hands. (For an amusing take on the issue, check this column by The Uptight Seattleite in the Seattle Weekly.)
We'll get used to it
China has already banned plastic bags, colloquially known as "white pollution." Seattle officials note that a similar ban in Ireland reduced plastic-bag use by 90%.
A couple of months ago I wrote about why I'll miss plastic shopping bags when they finally go away. In Alaska, I used them to carry my good shoes as I clumped along in winter boots. Crumpled-up bags can substitute for foam peanuts when you're mailing fragile items. They're just the right size for my tiny kitchen garbage can; I don't generate much waste, in part because I'm single and in part because Seattle has an extensive recycling program.
Which brings me to a point made by Councilmember Tim Burgess in the Times article. Apparently there was a similar hue and cry when recycling was made mandatory, but now it's second nature to residents. Burgess figures the same thing will happen regarding the bag ban: "I think after a few months of legislation, we will wonder what all the fuss was about."
It's a start
Some argue that this is just a Band-Aid solution because produce bags are plastic, bread bags are plastic, garbage bags are plastic, etc. But this isn't meant to be a cure for the plastic plague, any more than recycling will magically do away with the plastic bottles that litter our roads and waterways. It's just one more way to reduce some of the waste that goes to landfills.
When I was a kid, we burned the paper trash and took the non-burnables to the dump. Last year, I watched my almost 90-year-old grandmother separate cans from plastic bottles. She wasn't particularly happy about it, but Mom-Mom was above all a realist: "They won't take your trash if you don't."
Imagine how much aluminum, glass, tin and plastic that would have been in landfills all over the country is now being recycled. Imagine how many plastic grocery bags end up there every day.
Now imagine yourself remembering to put a string bag in your backpack or a canvas bag in the trunk of your car. No, you're not fixing the world. But you and I and everyone else who does this will make an impact, one flimsy plastic bag at a time.
