Strangely, the article omits mention of paper bags, which, in the context of checkout bags, doesn't signal a thorough standard of journalism.
Anyhow, I guess the problem is people are disposing of the re-usable bags too quickly? Well look at Austin's legislation: they're missing the nominal mandatory per-bag fee that San Francisco imposed (10 cents). It's not about the money, it's just how people think: if they must pay for something, they assign it higher value, and are less liable to throw it away [0] [1]
The article's journalism is pretty pick-and-choose. For example, the author goes through a list of environmental issues that aren't just weight - biodegradability, animal ingestion, lack of recyclability - but when it comes to comparing canvas bags, suddenly the only thing that matters is carbon emissions.
Similarly, it's written as though the policy was a total failure and should be removed. There's no hint that a modification to the policy could possibly make it work just fine: adding a stronger public education commitment.
Does Austin allow give-aways of re-usable bags? I am not familiar, but I somewhat doubt it. Those bags typically sell for 99c in San Francisco. The 10c charge is for single-use bags (typically a paper sack, but plastic at some establishments).
If they're 99c, I would think that people are thinking of the value just fine. It's just that they're not thinking of using such a bag 130 times, and throw it away after, say, 25 uses.
Actually, Austin has the per-bag fee as well. Source: I'm in Austin. I don't remember if it's $.25 or $.99, but I can honestly say that I tend not to notice it when I forget my bags... adding a few cents to a grocery bill of $30 or more is barely noticeable.
My family uses reusable bags now, and I'm happy for the ban because we probably wouldn't have otherwise, but studies like this one do seem to indicate it wasn't everything it was sold to be.
That said, I rarely ever see a plastic bag stuck in a tree these days, and that's a welcome change.
Anyhow, I guess the problem is people are disposing of the re-usable bags too quickly? Well look at Austin's legislation: they're missing the nominal mandatory per-bag fee that San Francisco imposed (10 cents). It's not about the money, it's just how people think: if they must pay for something, they assign it higher value, and are less liable to throw it away [0] [1]
[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/13/t...
[1] (HN comments on [0]) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8602502
reply