Coming Soon: Plastic Bag Tax!

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I've always thought there should just be a discount off your bill if you bring your own bags - a more positive incentive. Now it's more like a penalty for NOT bringing your own bag.

Whine, whine, whine. Grow up, already! Carry a nylon or string bag with you for chrissakes - they weigh almost nothing, take up almost no space and will pay themselves in a couple of months. This is a win-win proposition - the city gets more money, there are fewer bags going into landfills. Stop complaining. Oh - and @67...the "incentive" to bring your own bag? That would be not being charged the $.06 per bag fee.

I think what Whole Foods has been doing is a much better idea. Giving 10 cents back if you bring your own bag.

With their prices, Whole Foods can afford to give you back 10¢. The bags aren't really "free" there. The extra cost is incorporated into what they charge for the products. A bodega owner who tries to do the same would lose even money than they do giving away "free bags," since an awful lot of things already have prices on them that can't be changed, like potato chips. Places like Aldi's and Save-a-Lot already charge for bags, which is how they keep their prices low. Even at 5¢ a bag, an awful lot of people still buy several bags each time, because they're lazy, bad planners and/or can't understand how much it costs them in the long run. Those stores prove that it's a workable system. Smart people will bring their own bags, but the city would still get plenty of money from the not so smart.

I wish Bloomberg an eternity in a long line at Duane Reade listening to old people kvetch about having to pay the extra nickel.

One more thing: As usual, this won't effect those wealthy enough not to notice the exra 6 cents. Can't the the city learn to solve problems with other means than money? If they truly cared about the environment and not their own damn pockets, they'd offer people some incentive for bringing their own bag (like Whole Foods does) rather than trying to force more money out of us.

I definitely won't be voting for him for a third term.

I think what Whole Foods has been doing is a much better idea. Giving 10 cents back if you bring your own bag. In a city like NY, where they expect everyone to be moving constantly and always being productive, how can they expect us to always have a reusable bag on hand? I commute everywhere by bike, and I'm not going to carry one around just in case I might buy some groceries on my way home from work. Not to mention the fact that of all the tote bags I've gotten, not one has a short enough handle that I can hang it on my bike handle. Whereas plastic bags are no problem. And for God's sake, where do you put garbage if not in a plastic bag!??! I used to recycle Whole Foods' plastic bags as garbage bags, but now I just have to buy the boxed ones. How is that solving anything?

If they're gonna do this, they need to come up with more alternatives for people.

Americans are WAY TOO IRRESPONSIBLE when it comes to taking care of their own garbage. I can't believe a lot of you guys, supposedly "liberal" and "open minded" have the nerve to whine about 6 cents (!) that you'll only have to pay if you don't carry your own bag.

Get a life!!!

http://lowcarbonhome.info/2008/05/31/refuse-or-at-least-reuse-plastic-utensils/

Oh, and if people bring their own bags, that's no skin off the bodega's nose, either. That means they don't even have to lose the 1¢ per bag to City Hall.

Nope. Bags cost businesses about 2¢ each (and even more in smaller quantities). The business owners actually come out ahead in this scheme. Right now, they're eating the cost of each and every bag. Even if they get only 1¢ from each bag, they'd be recouping half the cost. What are customers going to do, threaten to go to the bodega a few blocks away? They'll have to pay for bags there, too, and most bodega customers are already willing to pay a premium for convenience anyway.

How much is a plastic bodega bag worth anyway? What does the store pay for them, half a cent each? So Bloomberg is basically proposing a 1000 percent tax on them. Is there anything else taxed at such a level? How long until the plastic bag manufacturers file suit?

This is awesome. We don't need those plastic bags, just stop being lazy and bring a tote bag. Stop wasting and reuse! It's a good lesson and a step in the right direction.

Oh, and according to BBC News, "A tax on plastic shopping bags in the Republic of Ireland has cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue." That sounds like a positive outcome.

Next they are going to tax scumbags unless you use a paper bag on your dick.

So when everybody starts to bring their own bags, what will they tax next? This is supposedly about revenue, so avoiding the tax will not help the problem Bloomie is trying to solve.

Reusable bags

I've been carrying two all the time for many years. If I was paying 5¢ for each plastic bag, these would have paid for themselves many times over. Probably kept well over a thousand plastic bags out of the waste stream. And unlike plastic bags, they hold a ton of groceries and never break. They fold into unobtrusive bundles but if I'm in a hurry, I just stuff the unfolded bag into my work bag. Clerks usually look at me funny when I say, "I don't need a bag," but I don't care.

They do this at certain stores in London... When I lived there it wasn't a big deal, people just brought their own bags. If you forgot, you could pay the 5 cents per bag, or something like 50 cents to get a thicker re-useable plastic bag, or buy a tote bag. The cashiers didn't have a problem with counting your bags, either. It was no big deal, and it definitely made me bring my own shopping bag when I went out.

JRod: It really depends on the type of bag.. canvas is cotton, so those bags would biodegrade just fine.

If Bloomberg gave the city one billion from his wallet that would cover the tax gain of the plastic bags for over sixty two years.

Jackoff, I don't believe the founding fathers of our country gave any consideration to the problems we face with plastic bags, considering they didn't have plastic back then. What a bunch of near sighted idiots they were.

I see #29 is happy paying the bag tax in Ireland. I could make you and myself a lot happier if you would pay my real estate and income taxes.

Babyhitler? The bag you are using comes with a carbine. Cool. Talk about stealth protection and shopping convenience in one small package.

#50 - those re-usable bags are made like 5 regular plastic bags put together. It's not good for the environment bio-degradably but it's good for the number of uses. I've used 1 bag for an entire year so far and it's only begun to fade. using 1 bag instead of probably 500 bags in a entire year is a pretty good tradeoff.

Paper bags have no tax.

Has anyone ever wondered with all the re-usable bags being sold how good they really are for the environment once they inevitably break? Anyone know how biodegradable those things are? Just wondering...

Biodegradable dog poop bags:

http://www.poopbags.com/

http://www.biobagusa.com/biobag_dog.htm

You can use the plastic bags a lot of food comes in instead of the plastic bags they give you.

All of these measures seem so late to the dance. It's great that we're all collectively thinking this way, but the landfills are ridiculously overfull. We're still relying on terrible materials. Even if some/ most of us remember reusable bags, the bags at the store are still horrible wastes. I think the tax is reasonable, but it is a regressive tax, to be sure. What if you shop on the way home from work? Who carries his/ her hemp/ macrame/ etc bags to the office in the morning?

Are there any single heterosexual males out there that actually utilize reusable bags?

Nothing says "secure in my manhood" like wondering if canvas bags are gay. Keep fightin the good fight, bruiser.

Let's just keep taxing.

Plastic bags that I get when I'm grocery shopping enter the 'bag of bags' under my sink and wind up as my garbage bags. So that's five dollars for every 100 bags. I literally haven't bought garbage bags in years. The same box just sits there. Also

when I was in Italy they charged maybe three euro-cents for a plastic bag at the supermarket. I didn't mind paying for it... but more often then not just used fewer of them.

i spent a summer in germany and we always had to pay for bags at the grocery store. it wasn't much, maybe 10 pfennigs. i thought it was a great idea. i even bought a reusable shopping bag that summer.

This is a fucking sales tax on food! Fuck you big government scum.

camrailla - You seem to have a vision of Philly that is divergent from the actual city. In terms of politics, it is not too different from NYC. Some councilmembers proposed an actual ban last year, and while that ultimately did not pass (Sunoco HQ is in the city, and they also have a refinery here), I wouldn't be surprised if the issue is resurrected (especially if NYC does it).

I for one am not against any initiative to help the environment. I refuse plastic bags whenever possible and reuse the ones I have. True this will make those less inclined to think twice about taking that bag. Plastic bags have been used in grocery stores in this city for well over 20 years. Paper or plastic was the choice offered to the consumer at the checkout line. People would frown at those who chose paper as everyone was worried about the trees back then. This "tax" could have been suggested when Wall Street was shitting $100 bills and real estate was booming. Mayor Bloomberg has been in office for some time now. I think it is shameful of him to suggest that citizens pony up for a plastic bag now. Bring back the paper ones then-Trader Joes has them.

#35- there is actually this really cool re-usable bag at uniqlo. It's ten bucks but it folds into a wallet sized pocket, holds three gallons and has a CARABINER!

We may pay less taxes than Europeans, but we don't get any of the benefits.

I'd rather have the tax than a store charge. Put the money to good use. In many places in Africa their is a ban on those type of plastic bags all together because of the waste issue.

you guys aren't seeing the bigger picture here. More people will be inclined to bring their own bags thus causing one of the biggest non bio-degradable culprits in our landfills to decline. you need oil to make plastic bags. so oil consumption will go down. if everyone used their own bags and didn't buy bottled water there would be a huge environmental uptick. it's a small individual gesture that collectively would have a huge impact.

Another tax, and registers are going to be slowed down while people count and argue over bags, the merits of double bagging, etc. I'm also looking forward to having to carry around a satchel with me everywhere just in case I remember to buy more cereal on my way home.

CAN NOT WAIT TO MOVE. Next September cannot come fast enough. If the nanny state spreads to Philly, I guess I'll move to Charleston or Atlanta earlier than I planned, too.

Why stop at plastic bags? The city should tax everything sold made with plastic! A plastic tax!

#15: Exactly. This isn't a tax on the poor, it's a tax on the lazy. If you bring a re-usable bag with you you won't have to pay the tax.

And my own experience in bodegas and other small groceries has been the same: that it's almost impossible to buy something without getting a plastic bag. And how many times have I seen people buy something, take it out of the store in a plastic bag and then immediately throw the plastic bag in a trash can or on the street?

Maybe people should be encouraged not to think of it as having to pay a tax on plastic bags but rather as having to buy the plastic bags that they're using.

Plastic bags should be banned. What gives any of us the right to leave them in landfills for future generations to clean up?

We've had this tax in Ireland for 6 years. All of the above arguments were made at the time, but the tax actually worked and everyone seems to be happy with it now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag#Ireland

I also am interested in the logistics... The person ringing you up would have to keep track of how many bags each person uses? Not impossible... But I'd assume the bags would become inventory that would need to be kept track of? How many bags were at the register before and after your shift? Did I just see you slip an extra bag in your stuff without paying for it? Criminal!

Its 4 million to rename the bridge.

And they are calling it a fee instead of a tax so all Bloomjerk needs is approval by his city council cronies.

#18- not really, i liked the old school fluffy type bag that c-town had in bright red. Whole foods used to have the same type in green with the classic whole foods logo but they switched to this nylon type bag that's fucking ugly in my opinion. Oh yes, I'm a re-usable bag connoisseur too. I got to get me a shop N save one.

Good god almighty. Of course most people will survive with the loss of 6¢ when they use a plastic bag from a store. Has it gotten so bad that even the simplest transactions need to be bogged down with this ridiculous tax? Do we have to cart around satchels in the event we may want to grab some food before we come home from work? Isn't there a sufficient markup by the retailers on their goods to include the price of a free plastic bag with each purchase? Will there be a mustard tax on the next hot dog anyone buys? How the hell do professional sports teams get so many tax breaks but average citizens may have to pay for a shopping bag?

Anyone else here remember when plastics bags were good and were going to save the environment? When did trees lose their lobbying power?

another real tax on the Poor. yes, another tax on the poor. eff U bloomberg.

would they tax fresh direct? this is just more bureaucracy, a tax on plastic bags? what would the founding fathers think?

I could see this working if they treated it more like the five cent bottle deposit. I mean, you could get that money back but most people do not try. However since they are given the option people do not get upset about the charge.

Maybe we can use this money for the hundreds of thousands its costing to rename the Triborough bridge to the RFK bridge. IN a time like this, why are we spending almost a million dollars on renaming the freaking bridge. Everyone should write the mayor about this frivilous waste of money now that he's decided to raise our cost of living here so much because of "emergency actions."

fishfryin is right. This will just get tacked on to everyone's bill and you'll have to fight to get it taken off. This is another one of those money grabs under the disguise of environmentalism. It would be to difficult to raise the sales tax outright since we already pay the highest in the nation as is usual with NYC taxes.

I guess we really cant expect the Mayor to cut waste, monitor the corrupt city council, deal with the labor unions who have been getting large raise and pensions while the rest of us in this city are struggling just to get by and pay these taxes. I know I haven't seen a pay increase in 4 years and count myself lucky to still have my job at this point. Guess its time to leave. NYC is only for the extremely rich and the people in public housing.

ah, congestion pricing for the overly, errr, consumptuous?

i just hope it is equally enforced from bodega to zabar's.

@babyhitler - do people at whole foods look down their noses at your C-Town bags?

i say bring it down to 5 cents. It's kinda weird to see most rich people using re-usable bags at whole foods when poor people use like 5 plastic bags at a time. I use 3 re-usable bags from c-town. Everytime I go to C-town it's like i'm the only one using the re-usable bag but when I go to whole foods it's like at least 20 percent of the people. we've got to get people to start remembering to BYOB. the 5 cents will get poor people to BYOB and then there won't be a tax on the poor cause they won't pay the 5 cents cause they'll be trained to re-use.

i wish this had an environmental tilt to it but i really don't think it does. it sounds like they are going to add 6 cents to every purchase, regardless of whether you take a plastic bag or not. i hope that's not the case, but i just can't imagine the stores and cashiers keeping track of plastic bag use for each individual customer

this isn't a tax on the poor, stop complaining about this little thing. you can get re-usable bags at the 99¢ store

Also @thenebula - if you need those plastic bags for use around the house, you'll pay 6 cents each for them, just like people now pay for boxed trash bags and ziploc bags, only much less.

"So what happens to those of us who actually re-use the plastic grocery bags for other things around the house?"

Obviously everyone's situation is different.. but I reuse my bags (4 trashcans plus cat litter), and still have a ton of surplus bags. Also, you can't always reuse the ones with holes.

But in any case, you would pay 6 cents for your bags that are currently "free". You'll live.

While I don't agree with the tax, I do think stores should begin to charge for bags. Aldi grocery stores charge a nickel for paper bags and a dime for plastic. Non-reusable bags are a problem and need to be phased out. If we all grew up bringing bags to the store we wouldn't have to think twice about it.

"It may work at the bigger stores, but it won't work for bodega. People want free bags all the time."

Oh, man, it is so hard to get the bodega people to NOT give me a bag. I usually wind up holding onto whatever I'm buying so they can't take it from me and bag it and then they look at me like I'm weird.

4, in the USA as a whole perhaps, but NYC+NYS+Federal+Property+sales+fees takes us right up to the average Euro level, with very little in return. The more these SOBs take the more goes down the toilet. Bloomberg has been an enourmous failure of a Mayor. How is it possible he's grown the city budget by over 50% over just a few years?!! The only thing he's accoimplished was a smoking ban and a stadium boondoggle (I guess paying for the best PR is important now days, not actually accomplishments). Beyond that, there are close to 300,000 employees now, and he's making a big deal out of shuffling 3000 jobs around?!

Be prepared to see an increase in the amount of dog shit that you see on the street. I'd wager that 90% of dog owners reuse the plastic bags from grocery stores to pick up and dispose of their dog's shit. I know I do.

I have no problem with it personally - I'll bring my reusable bags, but I do see Chris' point -- this could work out to be another tax on the poor.

This is one of the those laws that is well-intentioned, but may cause people to feel that they are 'losing their freedoms.' I suppose when you live in a big city like NY, you're always making compromises.

So, in summary :P I have no problem with this proposed law, but I see how others might.

This is just stupid...

So what happens to those of us who actually re-use the plastic grocery bags for other things around the house?

I've got the tote bags, but I forget them half the time. The "tax" will help with that.

I can't see how this will be anything but incredibly awkward at the register, though. "No, don't bag those pork chops!"

Stop complaining. You still pay a heck of a lot less tax than in Europe. Let's have a tax that helps the environment out a little bit! Jeez.

I'll happily pay it. But then I never take a plastic bag anyway.

tax me everywhichwayyoucan!!!!

Yet another tax on the poor, this is great.

Money grubbing scumbag Mayor.