UPDATE (2:30 p.m.): The AP has expanded on their original wire dispatch, including some more detail on the number of bags used in D.C. last year. Jessica Gresko reports that the city used approximately 55 million bags in 2010, which is still an incredible decrease from the 270 million bags a year Washington shoppers were using before the tax’s introduction.

To follow up on a story DCist reported last month, local non-profit Bread for the City let us know that they were able to successfully pick-up 2,000 donated reusable bags from Safeway on Friday, with a promise that 10,000 more would be on their way soon. Safeway had pledged over four months ago to donate 10,000 reusable bags, to be split between Bread for the City and Ward 7 environmental non-profit Groundwork Anacostia, but…

In the run-up to the start of the District’s 5-cent disposable bag fee, city leaders put out the word to area grocery stores and other retailers and organizations that they needed donations of free reusable bags. D.C.’s poorest residents would need help getting their hands on bags that they can reuse, which often cost $1 or more to purchase. Businesses responded to the call for bag donations in a variety of ways. Giant Food…

Much like the now three-year-old ban on smoking in District bars and restaurants, the five-cent disposable bag fee that took effect in January garnered initial controversy, but is already on its way to being just another part of living in the city. But how effective has the fee been? Very, it seems. According to a press release from the office of bag fee champion Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), a report from the D.C. Office…

With the State of the Union address looming, it means we’re nearly a month into the new year, and nearly a month into paying the District’s new 5 cent disposable bag fee. Regardless of where you fall on the topic along the libertarian-outrage-to-environmental-nut scale, it’s been a confusing month for retailers and consumers alike. Even the Wall Street Journal highlighted the confusion. Just as one example, last night, a market I went to informed…

City Desk had a fun post yesterday about the D.C. Republican Committee’s whimsical attempt to protest the District’s new $.05 disposable bag fee by … selling their own reusable bags? Hmmm. Maybe it’s not as counter-intuitive as it sounds. It’s not difficult to picture the hundreds, if not thousands, of irritated, marginalized small-government conservatives living inside the District who wouldn’t ordinarily be caught dead carrying some Liberal Canvas Bag. This way, the D.C. GOP…

We’ve been getting a kick out of this recent posting to the Columbia Heights email list, decrying the shortsightedness of the recently implemented 5 cent disposable bag tax. Let’s say for the sake argument that an average grocery shopping trip fills five bags. The logic here then seems to be that roughly 25 cents is enough to draw the line on spending hundreds of dollars weekly, and that the extra hour of personal time…

With the Jan. 1 implementation of the District’s 5 cent disposable bag tax looming, Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) sent out some updates on how area retailers are preparing. The list is a little vague in some places, but the best opportunities to score free reusable bags look to be coming from Giant and Harris Teeter. Giant is about to launch the most generous bag giveaway of any local retailer: throughout the entire…

As we’ve been telling you for some time now, that 5 cent disposable bag fee finally goes into effect on January 1. Much of the opposition to the law when it was initially being considered was that it could end up hurting the poor more than anyone else: spending $1 on a reusable bag or two could really be a hardship for the poorest District residents. With that in mind, below you’ll find a…

DCist had just been wondering when the city was going to get around to raising awareness about the impending 5 cent disposable bag fee, which goes into effect in January 1, 2010, and lo and behold, the “Skip the Bag, Save the River” Education Campaign press release landed in our inbox today. You can find the bulk of the campaign literature at http://green.dc.gov/bags, but the here’s the highlights: 122,000 reusable bags will be given…