Community Post

20-Cent Seattle Bag Fee

“Legislation approved by the City Council will launch a 90-day campaign to educate residents and shoppers before a 20-cent per bag fee goes into effect on Jan. 1.

A ban on plastic foam food take-out containers and cups also will take effect that da[y] [sic]. However, a ban on plastic meat trays will be delayed for a year, allowing stores time to figure out alternatives.

The 20-cent fee would be charged at grocery, drug and convenience stores. “
Source: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/

So, who is for or against this ban?

0 thoughts on “20-Cent Seattle Bag Fee

  1. ….reading:

    http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/

    I was ‘specially confused by someone who said they would buy the bags, go home, and throw them away! I use, reuse and reuse again what I have from the old days and shop with cloth bags.

    I think a good thing would be to give out cloth bags to all in the preceeding months. Going forward it would be nice if: the stores give them away to people using food stamps, have a stash in the grocery store where I could give extras and anyone who says they can’t afford it can take one, and keep a constant repenished supply of cloth bags at the food banks.

    Did you know the pet supply store on Madison has biodegradable doody bags?

  2. Not exactly on Madison, but Mud Bay carries biodegradable bags for scooping the poop. I’m fairly sure that pet supply store near MLK and Madison does as well. I can’t remember the name right now.

    http://www.mudbay.us/Store_Locations/On_Pine.htm

  3. It’s really not that difficult to keep up with the cloth ones. And for spur of the moment shopping, those string ones hold a lot and don’t take up a lot of space. I carry one in my daily backpack and/or bag all the time.

  4. In March of 2007 IKEA started charging 5¢ per plastic bag (with the proceeds donated to American Forests) and have had a 92% reduction in the use of plastic bags nationwide. People have been supportive and have adapted to it. This October they will do away with them altogether and not even offer them. It’s like at Costco, have they ever had plastic bags? People adapt, and I think they will here too. You just have to get used to it. Might be good if retailers had a “free bag day” for people who don’t have them already…to help out those who are on a limited income.

  5. Here’s why. First, I think it’s poor timing given the economy. Sure we all sit behind our computers and talk about what a great idea this is and have the means to either buy and bring our bags with us or eat the 20 cent fee. But for those that don’t, this is a regressive, albeit a relatively small, tax.

    Instead of our knee jerk reaction to tax what we don’t like, couldn’t we establish a recycling program ala the bottle bill whereas a returned and recycled bag gets a 5 cent (or more) credit. So you tax them on the way out but offer a refund on return. This also has the added benefit of providing an incentive for folks to pick up plastic bags they see on the side of the road and return them for a nickel.

  6. Way to go Seattle City Council…I’ll be sure to vote for anyone running against you in the next election! Rather than wasting so much time on this nonsense, why aren’t our elected officials doing anything about all of the gangs and shootings and robberies that have been going on in the Central District? Instead they add more stupid laws and restrictions and eat away at more and more of our rights and freedoms. Whatever happened to free enterprise and the rights of businesses to run their stores they way they want. Why do we have to regulate every little thing in this city (and this country for that matter). We have become a nation of laws, restrictions and more laws. Next thing you know, they’ll have hidden cameras in your bathroom to make sure you didn’t use too many sheets of toilet paper…20 cent fine for every sheet you use over 5 sheets.

    But…back to the plastic bag issue…Yes, I think people should bring their own bags to the store…I used to live in Germany and everyone brought their own bags for shopping. If you forgot your bags, they had them for purchase for just a couple of cents. If you want to be environmentally friendly and you wanna use your own bags rather than store provided plastic…go for it! But we don’t need the City Council to dictate to us how or when or why we should or should not use plastic. Isn’t it our right to make those decisions for ourselves? So if the City Council wants us to stop using plastic bags, then put racks of FREE cloth bags in every store this affects…the City Council can pay for those bags, too! Is the 20 cent fee going to also apply to those handy little fruit/vegetable/meat bags? So, while I don’t oppose the idea of being more environmentally friendly when it comes to plastics, I think all of these laws and regulations have just got to stop. And yes, I actually do try to always take my own bags to the store.

  7. There is an area of the Pacific Ocean just norht of Hawaii where wthere is a current vortex. The plastic flotsom is larger that the plankton. it is a huge toilet that does no flush. This should have been done decades ago. Walk along any Pacific beach and see the litter of plastic there.
    We not only need more regulation but strict enforcement of the ones we do have.

  8. These bio bags from All the Best come in packs of 100+ and are great for scooping kitty litter too!

  9. We need to cut down on waste, and this has been shown to be a really effective way to do it. And it’s really easy to bring a backpack and/or cloth bags to the store. Really.

  10. If plastic bags actually were recycled, I’d be all in favor of what you suggest. But the reality is they are not, in many cases, even when people try to do so, for a variety of reasons – there’s been good coverage in Salon, among other places, on the issues involved.

    We only really got plastic bags in the ’60s. Amazingly, society survived without them for centuries.