Bagged

Seattle has decided to impose a 20 cent per disposable bag fee on all bags at grocery stores (HT: jcm at LGF).

This is being done in the name of saving the environment.

The fee, along with a ban on foam containers, will take effect January 1, 2009. The City Council is claiming that they're using a market economic strategy to change consumer behavior:

The goals of the bag fee and foam ban are to cut down on waste, reduce the use of environmentally harmful plastics and cut the production of greenhouse gases. Implementation will reduce the use of scarce resources, decrease pollution of our environment, and significantly reduce a source of litter in our streets and parks.

These proposals are important elements of the Zero Waste Strategy, the Seattle Plan to increase recycling and reduce our solid waste, a plan that received the unanimous endorsement of the Council and Mayor last year after a careful and thorough review of how we can step up to meet the environmental expectations of our community.

The foam ban and green fee for shopping bags are just two of several parts of the city's new waste reduction and recycling strategies approved by the Council and mayor in 2007. The overall goal is to increase Seattle's recycling rate to 70 percent by 2025 and reduce the amount of waste shipped to landfills by at least one percent per year over the next five years.

The bag and foam proposals were developed by a coalition of community organizations, including People for Puget Sound, Foam Free Seattle, and the Bring Your Own Bag campaign, along with businesses like Puget Consumers Cooperative. As a result of their work, the Council and Mayor agreed to make reducing Styrofoam and plastic bag use the first priorities in considering substances that could be banned or restricted as part of the Zero Waste strategy.

The bag fee is the right alternative because it utilizes market forces to accomplish a public good. People can choose to pay the fee or bring their own bag to the store. Any revenues that the City receives from people who choose to pay the fee rather than switch to reusable bags will be required by law to return to the Solid Waste Fund, where they can be used to provide bags for low income consumers, promote recycling and waste reduction, and reduce solid waste rates. This program makes the polluter pay, and rewards those who do the right thing.

This is redistribution of wealth in play once again, and those who aren't saavy to pick up on this will be screwed. They will pay the fees, and will see none of the benefit.

The Seattle ban hits both plastic bags and paper bags. Never mind if you reuse the bags to put garbage in or recycle down the road. You'll be paying the fee.

Expect other cities to pick up on the bag fee as a revenue generator since they're finding a hard time keeping up with motor fuel revenues that have dropped as people have changed their driving habits and tobacco tax revenues continue to drop as fewer people smoke.

I suspect that once people start realizing how much the bags are costing, some will respond by choosing to buy fewer items altogether. Instead of helping the local economy, the Seattle city elders are going to help keep the local economy in the tank.

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention where all this money is going:

The green fee is intended to encourage and promote the use of reusable shopping bags. The city will set aside at least $1 million to distribute bags to seniors and low income households. Retailers will keep 5-cents of every bag to cover administrative costs. Retailers grossing less than $1 million annually will keep the entire 20-cent fee.

So, certain small retailers will basically pocket the fee, and other retailers will receive 25% of the fee to offset their administrative costs. The remainder will go to the Solid Waste Fund.