# Fucking bag tax **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947 "2012-02-15T17:59:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/21 "2012-02-15T19:32:53Z")
I think there needs to be a one bag free policy. What annoys me is that you get charged for every plastic bag they use but get a discount for every resuable bag so the incentive for the store is to use as many plastic bags as possible but as few reusable. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/22 "2012-02-15T19:33:45Z")
Here’s a bag tax for you. Bags in Ontario cost 5 cents also. However, we have a 5% federal tax, and an 8% provincial tax on the 5 cent bag, placing the cost at 5.65 cents, which is rounded up to 6 cents on each bag. So, we pay 5 cents for the bag and another 20% bag tax on top of that! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/23 "2012-02-15T20:04:31Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > . . . I’m not going to walk around with reusable grocery bags all the time just in case I may have to run into the store. . . . I know one inveterate walker who alway carries one of [these.](http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/e657/) Although his folds inside itself and zips, to make a light, fist-sized ball, and it has a carabiner on it, so he can attach it to his belt loop. The catalog doesn’t mention that, so maybe this is a different model. I’ll email and ask. Meanwhile, I keep hearing about a charge for bags, but it hasn’t happened here yet. I hope it doesn’t. I have a cat, too. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/24 "2012-02-15T20:31:59Z")
[This company](http://www.chicobag.com/) has some reusable shopping bags that also collapse to a size that you might be able to carry in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/25 "2012-02-15T20:38:58Z")
Unless they jacked the price up, I would go to Sams and buy a [box of 1,000 T-Shirt bags](http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=170094), reducing my cost from .05/per to .0136/per. I assume these bags aren’t subject to the $.05/per tax? Otherwise this $13 box of bags is now $63! ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/26 "2012-02-15T20:49:07Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Unless they jacked the price up, I would go to Sams and buy a [box of 1,000 T-Shirt bags](http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=170094), reducing my cost from .05/per to .0136/per. > > I assume these bags aren’t subject to the $.05/per tax? Otherwise this $13 box of bags is now $63! $63.05 He needs to buy a bag for his bags. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/27 "2012-02-15T20:55:07Z")
Nah, it’s in a box - he’ll be able to carry them out _sans_ bag. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/28 "2012-02-15T21:17:27Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > If your principal concern is with the breakage, you could pay to double-bag (if you can stand the ocular dagger assault from nearby environmentalists). Think of it as a tax for not carrying your bags with you all the time. Hmm I think I’ll go into a organic market and ask for quintuple bagging flip the cashier a quarter. Then come back because I forgot to get gum and ask for mroe bags 9and flip the guy a quarter. Of course they won’t give it to me because I don’t think the store gets to keep those quarters. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/29 "2012-02-15T21:33:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Here’s a bag tax for you. Bags in Ontario cost 5 cents also. However, we have a 5% federal tax, and an 8% provincial tax on the 5 cent bag, placing the cost at 5.65 cents, which is rounded up to 6 cents on each bag. So, we pay 5 cents for the bag and another 20% bag tax on top of that! To make it more confusing, the bag tax seems to be voluntary. Some stores (Walart is one) still give free bags just like always. From what I understand, the stores that charge just get to keep the extra money. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/30 "2012-02-15T21:53:31Z")
The policy itself doesn’t really mesh with good economics, but it’s working, so it’ll carry on. I am unable to think of any other way to get people to reduce their bag usage. Taxing provides the incentive to reduce. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/31 "2012-02-15T21:56:46Z")
I keep a bag like [this](http://www.ecobags.com/Natural-tote-handle) in my purse. It’s handy if I make an unplanned stop. It’s not so great for items that are smaller than the holes, but it’s good enough for books and a lot of groceries. I used to use them for groceries, too, but then we bought several insulated tote bags, which are fantastic in the Texas summer. I hate to put cold stuff in a car that’s way hot, unless the cold stuff is in an insulated container. Nothing sucks more than getting home and finding that the ice cream is halfway transformed back to the liquid state. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/32 "2012-02-15T22:09:07Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Also, and while I haven’t seen them enforce it in awhile, we’re required to recycle our newspapers in brown bags, which now means that I’m supposed to pay to recycle the damn “free” newspapers I get twice a week now. What? No. Don’t you have one of the big [carts](http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/dep/solidwaste/store/index.asp?var_action=itemdetail&itemid=104)? Just chuck the newspapers in. No bag required. I like the bag tax just fine. My recollection is that media reports indicate that it has reduced litter significantly in DC, so it seems to work. I’m not sure I’ve bought any plastic bags at grocery stores yet, but I have paid a nickel for a couple of shopping bags at the mall. I’m OK with that. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/33 "2012-02-15T23:17:45Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > What? No. Don’t you have one of the big [carts](http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/dep/solidwaste/store/index.asp?var_action=itemdetail&itemid=104)? Just chuck the newspapers in. No bag required. I have a green one, for Gaithersburg, and one the side it says only cans and plastics can go in it. I don’t get enough paper to need one of those big blue bins. I do know that years ago they would leave your recycling if you didn’t put it in paper bags. I had it happen to me a few times, they would leave a note saying why they didn’t pick up the recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/34 "2012-02-15T23:20:13Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > So is a fucking bag kind of like a sleeping bag, only more active. No it’s just a nickname for a condom. ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/35 "2012-02-15T23:24:34Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I keep a bag like [this](http://www.ecobags.com/Natural-tote-handle) in my purse. It’s handy if I make an unplanned stop. It’s lovely but that clashes _oh so much_ with my handbag. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/36 "2012-02-16T00:38:14Z")
The thing is – conserving plastic bags doesn’t even make a tremendous amount of sense. Compare the weight of the plastic bag to the weight of all the packaging of the stuff that’s in the bag. Between the cans, boxes, styrofoam and plastic for the veggies, it’s probably about a 1:30 ratio. So conserving the plastic bags is just a random feel-good measure. Even if you ignore the fact that most plastic bags are re-used for tasks that you’d otherwise have to buy other bags for – kitty litter, carrying lunch and so on. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/37 "2012-02-16T01:03:57Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The thing is – conserving plastic bags doesn’t even make a tremendous amount of sense. Compare the weight of the plastic bag to the weight of all the packaging of the stuff that’s in the bag. Between the cans, boxes, styrofoam and plastic for the veggies, it’s probably about a 1:30 ratio. So conserving the plastic bags is just a random feel-good measure. Even if you ignore the fact that most plastic bags are re-used for tasks that you’d otherwise have to buy other bags for – kitty litter, carrying lunch and so on. Well, except for the whole not being biodegradable thing. Cardboard is more readily biodegradable, and easily recyclable. I’ll grant you hard plastics since some can also be hard to recycle, but I think there is also a movement to reduce the amount of packaging products come in as well. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/38 "2012-02-16T01:15:09Z")
As a commuter who uses city transit all the time, walks a lot, and always walks home from the store, I have a commuter bag that’s always with me. I don’t know anyone else like me who doesn’t also use a commuter bag whether they’re male or female. Usually in the form of a cross-body bag or backpack. I’ve explained it to car-owners as my substitute glovebox. All the handy just-in-case things one with a car might stuff in the glovebox, is in my bag. That includes a canvas shopping bag, because it’s not like it weighs a lot, and that way I don’t have to “plan” shopping trips (which, as an inner-city dweller, is 2-3 times a week). The large compartment of my commuter bag often holds just my umbrella and the canvas bag. I don’t see the big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/39 "2012-02-16T02:44:10Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > … some places, like Subway, do the charges, … You get charged for the bag your fast food comes in? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947/40 "2012-02-16T04:04:44Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The thing is – conserving plastic bags doesn’t even make a tremendous amount of sense. Compare the weight of the plastic bag to the weight of all the packaging of the stuff that’s in the bag. Between the cans, boxes, styrofoam and plastic for the veggies, it’s probably about a 1:30 ratio. So conserving the plastic bags is just a random feel-good measure. Even if you ignore the fact that most plastic bags are re-used for tasks that you’d otherwise have to buy other bags for – kitty litter, carrying lunch and so on. You also have to account for the fact that since the initial “environmental cost” of a reusable bag is so much higher than the plastic ones, you have to reuse it a lot more before you “break even,” and it actually starts being better. > [@](#): > > [HDPE bags are, for each use, almost 200 times less damaging to the climate than cotton hold-alls favoured by environmentalists, and have less than one third of the CO2 emissions than paper bags which are given out by retailers such as Primark…Most paper bags are used only once and one study assumed cotton bags were used only 51 times before being discarded, making them – according to this new report – worse than single-use plastic bags.](http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/plastic-fantastic-carrier-bags-not-ecovillains-after-all-2220129.html) Now, if you then re-use your plastic bag, as most people do in various forms (cleaning cat litter, lining a bathroom or office wastebasket, etc…) then double the number of times you need to use a reusable bag before it becomes more eco-friendly. Now, I don’t doubt there are plenty of people who have used, or will use, their bags the requisite 171 times needed to be better than a plastic bag, but will everyone? If you use it once a week, you’d have to keep it for over three years. I’m guessing most people would throw it out before then because it got ripped, or raw chicken juice spilled all over it, or something stained it, etc… I’m not saying everyone needs to all ditch the reusables and go back to using plastic like mad, and the study might be flawed, but the point is, it seems too many people, like the ones enacting these taxes/surcharges for plastic bags, are just jumping on an easy scapegoat on the basis of “plastic BAD! Cotton GOOD!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bag-tax/612947.md?page=3)