The Corner Penthouse

This editorial article is my own personal opinion on a particular subject matter. It is simply my thoughts on something that I had a strong enough opinion about to want to share it. If you agree with me, that's great. If you disagree with me, that's great, too. This article isn't being written to get into a debate. You're free to share your opinion in the comments below, but I have no intention to reply to any of them.

Starting today, March 1, 2020, New York State has implemented a ban on "single-use" plastic shopping bags. The idea is to stop pollution and the negative environmental impact these bags - and their manufacturing - has caused. I won't argue with that. The sad thing is that plastic bags were never designed to be single-use. A Swedish engineer named Sten Gustaf Thulin created them in 1959, and according to his son, he intended for people to bring them where ever they went and reuse them. It's a practice that I still do, as they are much easier to shove in my usual cargo pants than a so-called "reusable" bag. I also reuse plastic bags around the house to store things in, and as garbage bags. I never just throw them away in and of themselves, unless they are damaged.

Anyway, plastic bags overtook paper bags back in the 1980s, and because they were much cheaper than paper bags, and much stronger, retailers jumped on the plastic bandwagon. So, it isn't the bags themselves that are the problem, it's society's flagrant disregard for the environment, and overall laziness, that created the problem.

Regardless, lawmakers can only force people to change by instituting bans and fees, and that's what New York State is getting today.

Generally speaking, the new law only applies to plastic shopping bags at retail outlets. Bags you get from restaurants, pharmacies, delicatessens, dry cleaners, and a few others places are allowed. What if you go to a retailer that is now prohibited from giving you a plastic bag, and you don't have your own bag? Well, the state is allowing them to provide you with a paper bag, as long as you PAY A FIVE CENT FEE PER PAPER BAG! This fee doesn't go to the store; two cents goes to the local government, and the other three cents goes to the state's Environmental Protection Fund. Thankfully, SNAP (commonly referred to as "Food Stamps") and WIC program recipients will be exempt from the paper bag fee, which helps prevent to disproportionately burden low-income communities.

WHY THE FIVE CENT PAPER BAG FEE IS WRONG - Whenever a retailer has given you a "free" bag in the past, be it plastic or paper, you're actually paying for that bag in the cost of the items you're buying. All retailers price their items so that they not only make a profit on the item, but also recoup a portion of their store operating costs. "Free" bags given at checkout are part of those operating costs. Do you think that now they no longer have to provide you with a "free" bag, retailers are going to lower the cost of their items? Of course not. You'll still be paying the same prices you were before, maybe even more, since retailers now have to pay a higher cost for paper bags. Only now, if you want the paper bag that you will still be paying for in the cost of the item, you have to PAY AN ADDITIONAL FIVE CENTS for it, which goes to the government. This is in addition to the SALES TAX THE GOVERNMENT IS ALSO COLLECTING on your purchase.

If the store is out-of-stock on paper bags, as is expected in the short term while this law first goes into effect, you either have to pay a higher cost for a "reusable" bag, or carry out your purchase in your bare hands. Obviously, you can avoid that paper bag fee, and all of this nonsense by bringing your own bag, which is what they want you to do. But let's be real here, the reason we're in this mess is because people (as a whole) will always be lazy slobs, no matter what bans and fees your impose on them. I get the feeling that there will be people, to whom money isn't an issue, that will keep buying "reusable bags" every time they shop and will throw them out (thus cluttering up landfills) or littering them all over the land (as plastic bags do today). I hope that I'm wrong.

I do think that by imposing all of this inconvenience and extra fees when shopping in a physical store will help drive more people to buy groceries and their other stuff online, since they don't have to remember to bring bags, or spend extra money on a paper or reusable bag, when shopping online. Amazon now accepts New York State SNAP benefits (commonly referred to as "Food Stamps"). It's only a matter of time before more states bow down to Amazon. Let's also remember that at a lot of online retailers (like Amazon), you get free shipping once your order hits a certain threshold. Are stores going to offer you free paper bags if you spend a large amount there? Of course not. In ten years time, a LOT more physical stores will be out of business thanks to the hassle introduced by the state's plastic bag ban.

The idea behind the law is well-intentioned, but it won't solve the overall problem. To fix humanity's effect on the environment, change needs to start from the top down, not the bottom up. Unfortunately, the large corporations won't forgo profits to make the necessary change.

UPDATE 3/2/2020
I have been informed that Nassau County refused to opt-in to the state's paper bag fee, but the fee still applies in Suffolk County and the NYC boroughs. Although Nassau County may not have the $0.05 fee, stores like Five Below and Aldi's are charging upwards of $0.10 for a paper bag. That's even worse! I noticed this today when I went to shop at both stores. Here's the signage in Five Below.


Aldi's has a handle-less paper bag for $0.07, and one with handles for $0.10. Why offer one without handles? Does anyone even want a bag without handles?


Of course, Aldi's has more expensive "reusable" bags. An insulated one for $0.89, and a flimsy "recycled eco-friendly" bag for $1.99.


I was also in Target, but I used my own bag at self-checkout, so I didn't notice if they're charging for the paper bags or not. I'm not sure what other stores are doing. I've heard that CVS, King Kullen, and Foodtown are also charging for paper bags (according to Christine Rehill Cutrone on the Valley Stream News Facebook group).

This all goes against the Nassau County legislature's plan to opt out of the state's $0.05 fee, which would have been better than allowing the stores to decide to set their own HIGHER fees. I suspect that these store "fees" are not SNAP-excempt either, like the state's fee is. This puts an unnecessary burden on the poor communities here in Nassau County.

A long time ago, as a way to incentivize the recycling of beverage containers, a plan was enacted to charge a fee ($0.05 here in New York) to the person who purchased the beverage. That person would get that fee back by bringing the can/bottle back to the store for recycling. Are the stores who are charging for paper bags going to give you that money back if you bring the bag back on your next visit to the store for reuse? Of course not.

Instead of charging for a paper bag, the stores should positively incentivize the use of reusable bags by giving you a discount for each bag that you bring of your own. Target actually does this (and Pathmark used to, as well). Target gives you $0.05 per bag (up to four bags, $0.20 total). You can get it automatically at self-checkout when you select the number of bags you brought (before you start scanning your items). You might have to remind the cashier to give it to you if you go to a normal checkout lane. That's what all of the stores should do. Instead of charging people more, charge people less. Positive reinforcement, not negative reinforcement, is the better way to do things.  People are more receptive to spending LESS money than they are to spending MORE money.


UPDATE 3/23/2020
To learn out this plastic bag ban actually HURTS the environment, please read "The Perverse Panic over Plastic" by John Tierney. Also, with the COVID-19 virus pandemic now upon us, please read "Greening Our Way to Infection" by John Tierney to learn how reusable grocery bags can sustain the COVID-19 and Flu viruses.

-- Paul