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Stock up on your canvas bags, everybody. The Washington Times has its story up already: the D.C. Council voted unanimously just a little while ago to give initial approval to the Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Act of 2009, which among other things enacts a 5 cent fee on consumers per paper or plastic carryout bag taken from District retailers - retailers get to keep one cent of the fee, with the other four cents going toward Anacostia River cleanup. The bill also bans the use of non-recyclable disposable plastic carryout bags by retailers.
The bill, introduced by Ward 6's Tommy Wells, was amended before today's vote by At-large Council member Kwame Brown (D) to include allowing the city to offer a new specialized Anacostia River vehicle license plate, as well as an option to donate to the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund on your D.C. income tax return.
A second, final vote will still need to take place before the bill gets sent to Mayor Fenty for his signature, but given the 13-0 vote in favor, there's little danger that it won't ultimately be passed.
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Anyone know if this is going to apply to bags used by Peapod or Safeway home grocery delivery services?
That could add up. Peapod double and triple bags almost everything they bring me (and individually wrap each vegetable and frozen food in its own bag, all inside another bigger bag). It's the one thing that really bugs me about Peapod.
Precisely my concern...I already pay the delivery fee and tip the driver, I don't really feel like paying another $4 because they decided to be extra careful.
So this applies to all retailers, or just grocery stores? It would take some getting used to if I needed to bring my canvas bags with me to, say, Best Buy.
That's what I'm wondering Will this bag bill also apply to Chinese carryouts? Because you can't get that fried chicken/fried fish/fried oompah loompah smell out of a reusable bag. Not that you'd want to. Rancid oompah loompah grease still smells better than that cologne Jim Graham wears.
Virtually anywhere that sells food. So Staples, Best Buy, etc., are included.
So how is this going to work? How are small biznesses like Fragers going to track how many bags they've sold in a day? Say they have 500 customers a day. Seems like a lot of record keeping work for them to have to pay $25.
Fragers is on it. They just ended their "buy a Fragers bag for $.99, and get 15% off your purchase" special. I got several Fragers bags then. Decent small businesses have been taking this into consideration for a while.
Aside from that it is simple right? They just add a nickel to your total if you didn't bring a bag, they give that a special transaction code, and send DC 4 cents for every one of those transactions. At least I hope it's that easy.
The better question is how is the DC office of tax and revenue going to enforce this? Are they going to audit plastic bag purchases during the year? Are they going to affix tax stamps to each bag?
it works in europe just fine. it also works with aluminum cans and plastic bottles in many US states. It won't be perfect, but it'll be just enough incentive for a lot of people (but, not enough incentive for everyone, but oh well, small steps)
It works fine in Europe because where there's a charge it's imposed by the store, not the government. The store has every incentive to charge for each bag if it's decided to take that approach. But a chinese takeout has little incentive to be the bagman (so to speak) for the city.
Ireland's fee is run by the government. And it reduced bag use by 90%, so really there isn't much bookkeeping to do at this point.
oh well, so a few little (non-safeway) stores give bags away for free. Maybe they will have sting operations. If not, whatever, the majority of plastic bag use will be discouraged. A few will slip through... not the end of the world and certainly no reason not to make any progress at all.
Has Marion Barry realized what he was actually voting on and asked for a re-vote yet?
If you look at what the city has done recently, it seems everyone is placing a priority on doing something that "will be a model for the rest of the country to follow."
Gun laws: Mendo said it.
Prickly Bush Detention Center: Fenty said it.
Bag tax: Tommy "Tommy" Wells said it.
Sounds needy to me.
It'd be extra cooler if you were able to collect 'em and return 'em for cash. Money for the homeless. Money for schools. Money for me. Just like returnable bottles.
You can criminalize plastic bags, but then only criminals will carry bags that say "thank you" on them.
Thank god I can still drink my Thunderbird out of a recycled 10 percent post-consumer waste paper bag.
DC council screwing over poor people again.
This makes things more expensive for consumers and retailers (which of course again will pass those costs on to consumers).
I've helped clean up the Anacostia River and they would be better off looking for people who dump stuff and fining them hard.
Even poor people can bring bags with them, even if it is the same safeway plastic bag over and over. Or better yet, just carry things in our hands and pockets (does that pack of gum and magazine really need it's own bag?) Or, we can just start grabbing them out of the trees and river before we hit CVS.
When I heard this story on NPR this morning they mentioned something about giving out free reusable bags to the poor and elderly. Besides, who doesn't own a few bags of some form? I have a ton of free ones from local festivals and job fairs.
It's time like this I wish I were a kangaroo!
Screw this. I'm just gonna make my own bags out of roadkill pelts.
Nobody has taken up the plight of the poor paper bag.
This innocent bag doesn't choke animals and clog up streams, but is subject to the same taxes as its evil cousin the plastic bag.
It's a money grab plain and simple. A new tax, if it were really to have any reduction on plastic bags, it wouldn't be charged on paper.
If DC handles this as efficiently as it does everything else, everyone shopping in DC will be inconvenienced, the amount of plastic bags in the river will increase, and some officials cousin/neighbor/substitute teacher will be given millions in exclusive contracts to manage the cleanup.
You are wrong on one point sir/ma'am. I am an animal, and I choked on a paper bag just last week. Then I tried kayaking from Georgetown to Old Town, and my kayak was completely stopped by a river blockage of paper (bottle sized) bags, I had to light them all on fire to proceed.
Are you sure that blockage was paper? And not combined sewage overflow? It was raining last week.
Plastic bags make wonderful pooper scoopers and instant urinals for guys like me on the go.
Just how the f**k am I supposed to homerotically asphyxiate myself now? Hm? Because nylon rope ain't cheap.
You'd figure someone like the Mayor would sympathize with my plight.
With a belt, of course.
I read the council is considering giving DC residents at least one reusable bag before this thing goes into effect. I wonder if that's still on the table. I wonder how much of this will ultimately get financed by tourists at CVS and the like..
As someone who is about to move into the district, this is annoying because I use the plastic bags to pick up after my dogs. I really try to be a conscientious pet-owner, but this is just adding another expense. Paying for little plastic baggies to pick up poo is ridiculous but so is grocery shopping out of the district so I can get my free plastic bag fix.
But the plastic bags you pay for (for picking up dog poo) are biodegradable (unlike the shopping bags from Safeway, CVS, etc), so it's not that ridiculous.
When you outlaw the plastic bags, only outlaws will have them. The inlaws will have paper bags to sell at their hearts disposal. The downlaws will have laytex condoms made from the grease of JUMBO SLICE PIZZA and CHUD SPLOOGE.
Here's the link to the Council bill.
http://www.dccouncil.us/images/00001/20090218163015.pdf
As someone who is about to move into the district, this is annoying because I use the plastic bags to pick up after my dogs. I really try to be a conscientious pet-owner, but this is just adding another expense. Paying for little plastic baggies to pick up poo is ridiculous but so is grocery shopping out of the district so I can get my free plastic bag fix.
buy lots of fruit and veggies... I don't believe those will be taxed.
As someone who is about to move into the district, this is annoying because I use the plastic bags to pick up after my dogs. I really try to be a conscientious pet-owner, but this is just adding another expense. Paying for little plastic baggies to pick up poo is ridiculous but so is grocery shopping out of the district so I can get my free plastic bag fix.
As someone about to move into the district, this annoys me. I try to be a good pet owner and pick up my dogs' waste. I use the plastic grocery bags because they're "free" with my groceries and I feel ridiculous paying for the little dog waste bags. However, will I be just as ridiculous grocery shopping out of the district to get my plastic bag fix?
for fuck's sake, sorry about the multiple posts folks.
Thank heavens. I thought for a moment we were being invaded by a race of pet owning giant squid. Which would be less scary than the annual summer intern invasion actually.
You guys are a bunch of whiners. Are you really getting up in arms about a 5 cent fee for your Chinese food?
This will have the effect of cutting back overzealous use of plastic bags, which, by the way, constitute 50% of the trash in the Anacostia river (20,000 tons annually). Most of the proceeds will go to cleaning up the river, which, with our current economic crisis, DC doesn't have money to pay for.
Do the retailers really need to give you three bags on a peapod purchase? Every time I buy a pack of gum at CVS they throw it in a bag. Necessary? Absolutely not.
Good for DC. Good for the City Council.
I, for one, am proud that our council members are trying to take steps to "be a model for the rest of the country to follow." We're the god damn nation's capitol. I'm happy to see some leadership in this city that displays as much.
Uh... that's CapitAl. CapitOl is the funny big building with the dome.
And how is DC demonstrating anything other than johnny-come-lately, knee-jerk, half-assed solutioneering with this downright silly move? Ya wanna impress the world? How about enforcing some of the damn laws that are already on the books? Or cracking down on violent crime? Or implemeting a financial control system that doesn't allow Skeletor and her cohorts to steal a gazillion dollars from the DC Gubmint?
Sheesh!
Note that this fee covers all disposable bags - both plastic and paper.
@arglebargle: kraft paper bags, while usually composed of a high percentage of post-consumer paper, take a long time to biodegrade and can cause issues with drainage and such in landfills. Recycling the bags is easy enough, and I know a lot of people (myself included) who use kraft paper bags as a means to capture and contain recyclable paper goods.
Frankly, I think this fee is a good, logical one. Yes, on the surface it seems to be regressive for the poor, but reusable bags (made of canvas, cloth, Tyvek and the like) as available for free at myriad public events around town (e.g. National Book Festival, most street festivals, et al), and I'm betting that some retailer would be all-too-happy to hand out a few thousand reusable bags emblazoned with their corporate logo (Target has done this to great effect at a lot of events on The Mall).
My props to the Council and Councilman Wells for championing this effort!
Biodegradable dog poop bags (in rolls of 1,000) cost 3 cents per bag. Can't afford nine cents a day? Toilet train your dog.
Can we get this comment put in bold on the top of every plastic bag thread?
Does PeaPod have a physical location in the District? If they are actually located in VA or MD would they be exempt?
Peapod is just Giant, so they have plenty of locations in the District.
Ever see the number of DC plates in the parking garages at the Arlington Harris Teeters? or in the lot at the Shoppers on Route 1?
If you have a car, and you should, you can bypass this pathetic tax by simply shopping in Virginia.
By the way, how much of this tax will be used to provide no-show jobs for future residents of the Rose Garden Anti-Jail in Laurel? Or does that waste of money come out of a different tax.
Guess what, you could make the Anacostia River as clean and clear as a swimming pool, and still no one would go there because the neighborhoods that border it resemble third world countries. We have the Potomac, it works, leave the Anacostia for those too poor to afford a house in Waldorf.
I'm confused, why should I have a car?
I do just fine getting everywhere I need to go with by foot, bike, bus, metro, zipcar, or rental car. I save a few hundred dollars a month which allows me to live in a walkable neighborhood and with a little bit of planning, I usually arrive faster than my driving counterparts.
While I think the tax is kind of an annoying and probably burdensome for businesses and consumers alike, shop in virginia to avoid it?
You must be joking. I am going to drive all the way the f*ck to Virginia to avoid paying somewhere between 5 and 40 cents extra to buy groceries. Or whatever.
Your time must not be worth very much. And you must know a really cheap gas station too.
Actually jamie I do get it.
Where I live now I have every essential of life within a half mile radius, plus I have lower taxes, effective public services, etc. etc. I don't have to drive anywhere and I frequently don't. Not everyone in the 'suburbs' lives in Manasshole or Frederick. Some of us are smarter than that.
For the 20+ years I lived in DC I could walk to everything too. But when one starts having kids and other adult responsibilities (as you will someday no doubt) one begins to appreciate the futility of pouring more and more tax money into the inept, Third World kleptocracty that is the DC Gubmint. I voted avec mes pieds and it was the right choice.
And, if you go back and read my initial post, I simply doubted the poster's assertion that the difference in DC vs. suburban prices wasn't justified factoring in the cost of gas. Even with the high cost of gas, almost all staples of life (probably excluding alcohol and pork-rind flavored Phillies Blunts) are cheaper in either MD or VA.
Actually, no. I should NOT have a car, and in fact I don't. When I lived in the 'burbs, I owned a car. Now I do not need to do my patriotic duty and subsidize GM's bad business decisions. I don't need to do this because a)a car is not necessary for me get to work (and in fact would make my commute much more expensive and less convenient); b)I have ample access to reliable public transportation; and c)if I need a car on the weekends there's this handy lil thing called Zipcar that you may have heard of. (Yes, I've done the math. It's cheaper.) That can get me out to Potomac Yards if I need to go there, except I no longer do because I have Giant, Teeter and Target within walking distance of my apartment. Buy a $20 rolling cart, toss your cloth bags in there and walk out the damn door, people.
"If you have a car, and you should..."
Why, exactly, "should" I?
"...you can bypass this pathetic tax by simply shopping in Virginia."
Depending on where in DC I live and where in VA/MD I'm going to shop, and the mileage of my car, etc. etc., I'm going to probably use, what, an extra 1/2-1 gallon of gas to travel out of the city to do my shopping? So at current gas prices, I'm going to spend 1.25-2.50 in order to not pay a tax that, if I really go hog wild at the grocery store, might cost me as much as a buck, not to mention all the extra time wasted? Brilliant!
NEWS FLASH!! NEWS FLASH!!!
Stuff is cheaper in VA/MD. You will save much more than the cost of half a gallon of gas.
NEWS FLASH!! NEWS FLASH!!!
Driving to VA/MD to get goods just doesn't make sense. You have to go to Delaware where there are no sales taxes! It may be a little farther but you are avoiding paying extra money to the government, and really, isn't that what is important here folks.
Can you point to an actual apples to apples market-basket comparison between the chain branches in DC, MD. and VA?
I think the apples are pretty much uniformly priced in DC, MD, and VA. However, the apples in DC tend to be bruised, moldy, or date from the first Clinton administration. The Yung Joc Sweet & Hot Rap Snacks®, however, are uniformly fresh and tasty, unlike their suburban counterparts. Take that, boring bedroom communities!
I forgot to add that they also make your booty hurt.
Game and match.
I would be glad to. Post a couple of representative items from your local Hipster Mart, and I'll post comparison prices from suburban MD or VA.
NEWS FLASH! Taxes are also lower in Virginia. Yes. Everything IS CHEAPER IN THE F*CKING SUBURBS! WE KNOW!
I didn't decide to pay ridiculous DC income taxes and deal with the crappy government and all that just to drive to Virginia to buy stuff!
You just don't get it. When you live in DC, you accept the higher cost as the tradeoff for NOT driving all over the place in horrendous traffic all the time. If I was willing to waste 90 minutes in my car every time I went shopping to save a few dollars, I'd fricking live there in the first place. But I prefer to use my leisure time in other ways, and that time is worth a lot more than what I'd save shopping in the burbs.
NEWS FLASH!! Actually, there is no sales tax on groceries in the District. In Virginia, you pay a lower sales tax on groceries (than the usual 5%), but it is still a tax.
And you also don't have to pay the tax if you just bring your own friggin bags to the grocery store. It's really simple.
If you're really complaining about paying five cents for a bag and you're too stubborn to buy or otherwise acquire reusable bags, then by all means move out of the District.
Kudos to the City Council for passing this no-brainer.
Ha! Just as my local CVS replaced all of their cashiers with self-service check-out machines, we get a law that seems designed to screw with those machines.
I keep a reusable bag at the office because I LOVE going to the CVS at lunch (National Candy Month! The candy dish on my desk needs to celebrate! etc.), but I HATE having to bag things twice. Put them in the bag on the scale, then take them out and re-bag them in my little canvas tote. Annoying. Will any stores allow the consumer to put his/her bag on the scale and set the tare? Doubtful. Ugh.
More importantly though: will this change make me more or less likely to be harassed by the "security" guard at the Swanky Safeway when I pack up my groceries in a reusable (collapsible!) Target bag? 'Cause it confuses them when I do that.
I don't remember which store, but I've used one that asks you at the start if you're using your own bags. Of course I forgot to bring my bags that day, so I didn't actually use the feature.
In any case, ime you don't need to bag things twice. Just place the items on the scale (no bag), and then put them in your bag at the end (or when the scale fills up).
"But when one starts having kids and other adult responsibilities (as you will someday no doubt)..."
Um....so no one with "adult responsibilities" should live in DC? And if I don't have kids, does that mean I'm not an adult? Sorry, I don't think that's what you were implying, I just get sick of the more-responsible-than-thou attitude that many parents assume. Like procreating is some kind of automatic ticket to wisdom and responsibility...
Couldn't have said it better myself. Bill Hicks was right;
"If you have children..., I'm sorry to tell you this; they are not special....Let's be clear on this. I know you think they're special. I'm just trying to tell you...they're not."
No, I just get sick of this hipster assumption that I should sacrifice my smart kid to the meat grinder that is DCPS. When you have kids, you have adult responsibilites. Until then, you have shit that you can whine about. Nothing more.
The real question is who is going to siphon the tax money in Harriete Walters' absence?
I have low self esteem, so I guess I could do it.
So in the year 2022, will we be reading about a certain so-and-so at the DC OTR who just got busted for years of embezzling millions of dollars of revenue from the DC bag tax?
"That's a lot of bags," said Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).