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Do you have enough reusable bags? Mayor Adrian Fenty signed into law today the bill that will establish a 5 cent fee charged to consumers for every disposable plastic or paper bag they take from a retailer. The mayor's action means the 5 cent fee will go into effect in January (unless of course Congress intervenes, but we kinda doubt that'll happen on this one). Four out of every five cents charged will then go into the newly established Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund (with the remaining cent for the retailer, for their trouble).
“Under this new law, the simple steps we take every day will result in a healthier Anacostia River,” said Mayor Fenty in a statement today. “Disposable bags are a menace to our waterways, and dramatically cutting down on their use will have a measurable impact almost immediately.”
The District Department of the Environment, which will administer the fund, plans to launch a public education campaign in October about the new law and will distribute free reusable bags to people who need them.
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I need some reusable bags, I can afford to buy my own, but would prefer if the city gave me some for free. That's how it works right?
Thankfully there is a Shoppers and 2 Harris Teeter's within 5 minutes of the 14th St. Bridge.
And plenty of cheaper housing and guns, too!
And I want a job on Barry's staff... but do I really have to sleep with him? Or how about I sleep with him and he just gives me $10,000... I'm sure it would take about that much to buy all the soap to wash off the shame (and the crack). And NO he can't put it in my butt... well maybe just the tip...
Oops, I forgot, he's a moral politician... well there goes that idea...
Dad?
Well then I guess you'd rather pay the 2.5% grocery tax that Virginia charges and DC does not. I mean, of course it makes sense if you buy less than $2 worth of groceries at a time.
Cause the amount I'd spend in gas crossing the 14th street bridge two ways would clearly offset the 25 cents in bags. Sorry, economic arguments have to be plausible in order to have teeth.
yes, can i get a gov't subsidized check for a few reusable bags? kinda like the converter box program. or maybe all the money for "free" bags could've been used to clean the anacostia now seeing as how those bags will probably cost more than the little bit of plastic bag money will make for a long time.
plus, all my plastic bags end up being re-used or recycled and never do they end up in the anacostia by my own doing. this 5 cent thing is stupid. maybe i'll start doing my part and littering then i have no problem with this dumb tax! i think teaching people to dispose of trash and recyclables would go alot further seeing as how thats the issue at hand. the bags are just a poor victim. ;p
1. what about paper bags?
2. i cant wait until i see bums using their 99-cent cloth giantfood bags to drink their md20/20.
They'll wrap it in newspaper. Keeps it colder longer, anyway.
To directly quote the above: "the bill that will establish a 5 cent fee charged to consumers for every disposable plastic or paper bag they take from a retailer. "
I actually wrote to Jim Graham in support of this bill so I'm please to see it passed.
So am I. I figure i can get $40-$80+ of groceries in one paper bag, and so I won't notice the BFD says I.
hmm. Should read "So am I. I figure i can get $40-$80+ of groceries in one paper bag,and so I won't notice the >.1% tax this represents. BFD says I."
oh dur, i should have seen that. i was too absorbed in my imaginary bum-drinking-out-of-a-cloth-bag - someday the dream will be lived!!
Bums should buy those insulated bags at Trader Joe's.
From $0.00 to $0.05? This infinite% tax increase is the largest in the history of the world!
What about liquor stores that require you to bottle your booze? Will they still make you take bags if you have to pay for them?
Yes unless you BYOB(ag)
So it will cost the DC government 6 cents a bag to administer the program. Idiots!
Why the fuck don't the get the Summer Job Program kids to fish bags out of the river and hand them out. Net win.
Where do you get that statistic from?
The simple answer is I pulled it out of my ass. But.
Over, you are on to something there. If we took EVERY summer jobs program who was doing make work (or no show work) and put them on clean up duty, it could make a big difference. I am sure Graham wont mind us borrowing his intern.
Some summer youth do this sort of work, but the capacity doesn't exist to supervise large quantities of children/young adults on the street.
I think this is fantastic and a great way to make people aware that the city is trying to take a negative - the filthy Anacostia- and turn it into a positive. As long as there are plenty of bag distributed for free this is a plus plus plus.
This sucks. You mean I need to pay five cents every time I want to strangle a sea turtle? Damn. I may have to give up that hobby.
I'm just going to clean up my dog's shit with my mouth from now on.
dsel,
that comment will NEVER cease to be funny.
I'm just going to clean up my dog's shit with my mouth from now on.
and accidentally double post - also with my mouth
How about I get 5 cents OFF for every plastic bag that I choose not to use?
What rubs me to wrong way is we have to pay to pick up trash. As I said before, the bags don't jump into the river, people litter. Do we think paying a nickel is going to keep the bags (and other trash) out of the river? The problem isn't the river, it's the idiots who have no pride in their home and show it by littering. A number of $1,000 fines for littering would both help clean the river and keep it clean.
Why do retailers get the extra penny? Was the retail lobby actually able to convince the authors of the bill that the bag fee will drive away their consumers, or that they will have to lower their prices by 5 cents?
Apparently the retailers have very good lobbyists. The legislation turns an expense for retailers into a profit center.
So, if in 5 years the Anacostia River remains as polluted as it is today, the Council will recognize this new tax hasn't had the promised impact and will get rid of it, right?
Hello?
Is this thing on?
No! No! No!
Thats not how government works.
In 5 years when the Anacostia is polluted worse than it is today. A multi million dollar study will be commissioned to determine why the bag tax did not work.
They will NOT conclude it was because the government bureaucracy the tax funded was ineffective and running at a deficit. They will however find that increasing the bag tax from 5 to 10 cents might do the trick.
Taxes, fines, sterilization - none of these will help clean up the river. What might do the trick is to use a fire hose on anyone that litters. My application form is already in the mail.
Fire hoses are a great idea. Just like when those uppity folks wanted to vote!
Those reusable bags are not convenient. I tried them. I guess if I drove to the grocery store I could keep them in my car, but I find it easier just to walk from the Metro on the way home. I voiced my opinion to my council member and she didn't care. This is a stupid tax and I predict that the river will be just a polluted in 5 years as it is today. I started shopping at the Giant in Chevy Chase when the council passed this tax. I will continue to frequent Maryland businesses. I used to care about supporting businesses in DC, no longer.
When you're done at the store to you then carry a bag in your hand on the way home? I ride the buses and get off at the store on my way home to shop and then get back on. You can carry a bag in your hand (or, in my case, my messenger bag) and pull it out when I shop. Then I carry it in my hand on the way home. If you don't have a bag to carry it then you can carry it in the hand you'll used to carry the groceries. What's the problem, again?
When you're done at the store do you then carry a bag of groceries in your hand on the way home? I ride the buses and get off at the store on my way home to shop and then get back on. You can carry a bag in your hand (or, in my case, my messenger bag) and pull it out when you shop. Then I carry it in my hand on the way home. If you don't have a bag to carry it then you can carry it in the hand you'll used to carry the groceries. What's the problem, again? You do have hands?
This tax is stupid.
So now every store has to update their checkout systems with a way to charge for bags, and the cashiers have to count them. Expensive to implement, and inefficient. I bet every big store will just pay the tax on every bag they purchase, rather than charging at the checkout, and just raise the prices of everything incrementally to compensate. As they would for any other cost of business.
Beyond that, I (and the vast majority of people I know) save them and use them for things like dog & cat shit, bathroom trash bags, whatever. If I find that I actually do have to pay 5 cents a bag at the store, I'll probably just buy shitloads of them at Costco instead. Same number of bags in the world.
Then, the people who are most likely to throw these bags on the sidewalk are the same people who are least likely to bring their own bags. They will just pay the 5 cents. Regressive tax.
Finally, the chances of the revenue from this actually going to clean up the Anacostia river, instead of paying for trips to Dubai and fur coats for OTR employees, is probably about zero.
Stupid tax.
First of all, dsel is fucking hilarious. I'll laugh all day and probably the rest of the week on that one.
My actual input is just get the fucking bags. Why is anyone using plastic bags (and the shitty paper bags) anyway. Even if you don't give a shit about the litter, or that it won't work, or that your mouth now tastes like dog shit (dsel), my bags are so much better for carrying my shit anyway. I've had loads of them for years and if you give them a shot, you'll love them. MOM in Alex or up in Maryland sell heavy-duty resusables for a fucking dollar each. A dollar. You buy three and you're out three bucks. If you happen to shop there they knock off $.10 for every bag you use on a visit. They're paid for pretty quickly. I think Whole Crap gives you $.05 on each bag.
I can't believe there's any issue about not using crappy bags.
Hey, what can you do.
Thank dsel...that was great.