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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.