BYOBag

Today kicks off Bring Your Own Bag Week in my community.  Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, Arlington County Fresh AIRE, and Giant Foods are encouraging consumers to take a pledge to bring their own bags when they shop.

 My reusable bags

“Paper or plastic?”  is a great example of how the framing of a question can preclude possible solutions.  The best answer, of course, is “neither”!  Fortunately, it is becoming much more widely accepted that we need to end our love affair with plastic bags.  Plastic bags are made from non-renewable petrochemicals and take hundreds of years degrade.  They clog waterways and litter habitats, where animals ingest them and often die as a result.  In addition, once the bags do begin to break down, toxic bits of plastic contaminate our soil and water.

Within the past week, both Target and CVS have announced incentive plans to get consumers to think reusable, USA Today reports.  Target will offer 5 cents back for each reusable bag used, while CVS will give $1 back on customers’ CVS cards for every four purchases without a plastic bag.  It is good to see more mainstream retailers signing on to kick the plastic bag habit.

Our legislators are also getting in on the action.  This summer, Washington, DC’s Mayor Adrian Fenty signed into law a “bag tax” that will enter into effect in January 2010.  (See the press release.)  Grocery, convenience, drug, and liquor stores and restaurants will be required to charge a 5 cent tax on all plastic and paper bags.  With this legislation, DC has gotten a step ahead of most of the rest of the country.  However, this could be changing, too!  Right now, the Plastic Bag Reduction Act of 2009 (H.R. 2091) introduced last spring by (my Congressman!) Representative James Moran (D-VA) is in subcommittee in Congress.  Tell your Representative to support H.R. 2091!

All of these trends are encouraging, but I think that a tax rather than retailer refunds ultimately will be more successful in changing behavior.  As my husband put it, “people are more likely to care about being charged 5 cents than saving 5 cents.”  There is also something to creating a social standard.  I have to say that I am much more likely to remember my reusable bags on my way to Whole Foods than CVS, out of pure shame!

If you don’t have any bags lying around, check out Reusablebags.com to get a stylish bag you can roll up and carry with you in your purse or pocket!