Baggage Revisited

by Liz 

As Seattle nears the one year mark since banning plastic bags and charging for the use of paper bags, I thought it might be nice to check in.  Last year I wrote a post titled Baggage, outlining the change for Seattle and what that means for me.  Last year I found myself to be about a 50% user of my own bags at the grocery store.  Also, I probably never used my own bags at other retail type stores.    When the July 1, 2012 plastic bag banned happened for Seattle I was ready.

Being somewhat of a competitive person, I vowed that I was not going to pay for the use of a bag when at a store.  Don’t worry I did not resort to thievery.  I did accomplish this task have have not paid for a single paper bag.  I was able to accomplish this by always having a fold up bag in my purse or extra shopping/reusable bags in my car.  On a few occasions when I was lacking my personal bag I refused to pay and ended up just carrying the items I purchased.  This led to some odd juggling maneuvers.  Call it cheap, stubborn, ‘greenie-weenie,’ or even foolhardy if you will, but I’m glad I’ve upped my ‘own bag’ usage and depended less on the thin annoying store plastic bag. 

Now, to be completely forthcoming, I will admit that when at stores outside of the Seattle city limit, I will get the plastic bag. I know, shocking!  However, I have good cause. Well, at least in my mind… The bags are reused as bathroom garbage bags, kitty litter cleaning, or giving out lettuce and produce from the garden to my co-worker/friends.  It’s nice to have a stock of bags to use for those purposes. 

A year later and I think the city has gotten used to it.  From my personal observation (no actually study made here) the impact has been minimal on the average consumer.  I’ve even seen other cities join in the ranks, I was happy in October while visiting San Francisco to find they had just started this practice.  Good for me I had my bag handy.  From time to time, we all need a little extra push or reminder to do the right thing.  So, even if your city does not require this I encourage you to bring your bags to the store and/or reuse the bags as you can. 

These are my favorite fold up bags… they work great, easy to wash (yes, you should really wash your reusable bags every so often), and they are pretty darn affordable.  Thank you Ikea $1.99.