Reusable Grocery Bags

Plastic groceries bags are overwhelming landfills, and they take centuries to photodegrade. Surely there must be some trendy product one can buy to remedy this woe! It turns out that most supermarket chains offer reusable sacks for about a dollar.

Of course, many also offer reusable bags for free, since regular paper and plastic bags rarely disintegrate after the first use. I maintain a stock of bags, which I bring when I buy food. Every week, about two plastic bags are reassigned to line the garbage can and one paper bag to hold the recycling. The times I forget to bring my bags merely restocks my supply. The free bags are always durable enough to handle the five loads of groceries they carry in my cycle. Before getting too self-congratulatory, I should note that some of the reusable bags sold are made with especially eco-friendly materials and that serious environmentalists need fewer garbage liners.

Worries over plastic bags have resulted in more than just commercial gimmicks. San Francisco banned “disposable” plastic bags. (1) I think Seattle has a better approach: a Pigouvian tax. (2) The fee rewards conservation. Its major shortcoming is that it influences the production decision not the disposal decision, where most of the externality is.

(1) City of San Francisco Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance 81-07-106883
(2) Kaste, Martin. “Seattle's Bag-User Fee Spurs Backlash.” NPR All Things Considered. 21 August 2008.