« Laurie Darcey - Force Of Nature | Main | People As Primates »

August 24, 2005

Paper or Plastic? San Francisco Answers Neither

When I was in South Africa a couple of years ago, I noticed the litter problem - it was impossible not to. My South African friends joked that the national flower of SA was the plastic bag. Then in 2003, the country instituted a bag fee which greatly reduced the number of bags blowing around as trash. In order to get a bag at the store, you had to bring your own or pay for them - and they weren't particularly cheap.

I have often wondered why this kind of fee hasn't shown up in the United States. We tax all sorts of other goods - CRV's for cans, fuel taxes at almost 20 cents a gallon, and yet we applaud people for choosing plastic over paper, and leave it at that. If I take a canvas bag or backpack into a grocery store (and it's not Trader Joe's) and ask for no bag... I get a funny look I interpret as "What a hippy". Even with all our little steps, we still have a big bag of bags in the pantry.

Always a trailblazer, San Francisco is finally making some movement to help save the estimated $8.5 million htey spent for plastic bag cleanup each year. This works out to roughly 17 cents per bag.

In January, the resolution passed unanimously to institute a bag fee of 17 cents at major store chains. A six month consumer education program has been in effect, and soon San Francisco consumers will begin to realize the value of what was once considered an unlimited free resource.

A recent Environmental News Network podcast dated 5/2/05 had some interesting statistics on this issue.

Posted by sorsha at August 24, 2005 3:45 PM