Does Your City or State Have a Tax on Plastic Grocery Bags?

Wow, as far as I know, my state has not made a tax law for bags yet or have even thought about it and tried to pass it. I'm sure I would have seen it on the news. I think that would be kind of crazy to try and pass something like that. Like you said the bag is only used once and thrown out and never used again. I'm here in San Antonio, TX.

I would totally support a bag tax in my area, but I do not think there is any talk of that happening anytime soon. I try to bring reusable bags, but I always forget them. I think I would be more likely to remember if I had to pay for the bags. I know when I used to live near Whole Foods and I got 5 cents off per bag I brought and used for my groceries it was enough to make me remember to bring my own bags.

They just seem to want to take and take some more from us dont they? They are worse than Mosquitos! lol most of the stores where i live they are free there is just one store that charges and whats funny is that its the cheapest store in the area..Its called Aldies and they charge 20 cents for each bag although teh boxes u need are free because u box and bag ur own groceries,thats one reason why the food can be so cheap,but personally i think 20 cents is way to much for a bag..

So far our town doesn't have a tax on bags though you know it will be coming eventually. Everyone is thinking "green" thoughts and trying to save the planet and that would be one way to do it, they think. I'm not so sure it would work but I could be wrong. I mean there's people who would just pay it and say oh well, no big deal. Now for me, I would have to get canvas bags because I couldn't spend the extra to pay a tax on bags each time.

No, my area is not doing this. I am a bit suprised as I live in California and they seem to jump on the band wagon with stuff like that. I think the tax would be a good idea. There are so many wasted bags that get thrown into landfills and never break down. I do think if they charge a tax they should refund it if you recycle your bags. California charges a tax on any time of plastic, glass or aluminum container. But, you can turn your items back into a recycling center and receive a set amount of money back. I use reusable bags whenever I shop. When I do need to use plastic or paper bags I am sure to recycle them. A few stores in my area do give a discount if you use your own reusable bag. Do they do that in your area?

My area does not have any sort of tax on bags, however at my local market if you bring your own bags they pay you $0.03 for each one used for bagging your groceries.

i live in southern ontario, canada and while my city has no hard and fast rule, many stores have started charging for bags here but in the city of Toronto, they do have a bylaw where the stores have to charge 5 cents per bag.

not yet,but i'm sure it's coming. they'll tax anything you can think of here if they think nobody's watching them. if they see people using cloth bags instead,they'll probably tax you for being able to reuse it."carryout fee" or something.

That is retarded! I have never heard of such a thing... ugh. Thank God I moved away from Seattle. As much as I like Seattle as a venue to visit, if they start tacking on ridiculous STUPID taxes, I'll be even happier I left and NEVER go back! I think this is horrid, any mayor who would come up with such a thing is thinking with the wrong head. There is no such thing here and there better not be!

Hey Zephyr! I sure hope my city never thinks they could get away with something like that! You're sure right about those bags! If they don't double them they won't make it out of the store! It is just getting so ridiculous! I am all for helping save the earth, but when I go grocery shopping I do it just about for three weeks at a time because I don't have a car and can't afford to keep going back and forth in a taxi! So I couldn't even afford to pay for the bags and the taxi fare! Would the city like to pay for my ride? I doubt it!

well here some shops are charging for plastic bags. to be honest it seems like a fairly harmless tax to me because you don't have to pay it if you take a reuseable one along and plastic bags are pretty wasteful. what some other shops do here, which i think is liable to go down better is giving shoppers extra points on their loyalty cards (roughly equivalent to what the shop would spend on carrier bags, i.e.not much) when they reuse bags. carrot versus stick.

I haven't heard about any laws such as this in the works in my area, but i do know that many stores are pushing towards becoming "bag free" stores. Some have already stopped supplying plastic or paper bags, and if you don't bring your own, or want to purchase some of the reusable bags (which have gotten fairly cheap not and are made out of recylcled materials) you have to carry your items loose. I work in a grocery store, and when i first started there almost 10 years ago, we used to offer 5 cents off your bill for each paper or cloth bag you brought in to be reused and 2 cents off your bill for each plastic one, then we eventually did away with the plastic credit..and only gave credit for paper or reusable totes. Now we don't even offer that, but it is because so many people have switched to brigning their own bags that we were loosing money! For the first month of so that we quit giving the credit, we gave customers who brought in their wn bag a free reusable fold up tote bag to add to their collection for future use. I think last i read in the info from my store, something like 35% of shoppers now bring in their own bags....which is great for the environment..and personally..when i have to go help out at the registers because we are busy, i PREFER bagging our customers groceries in tote bags opposed to plastic, as they can hold so much more and are vver sturdy.

We don't have a tax on our plastic bags, but like some other people have commented, we do have some discount grocery stores that charge for their bags. I always mean to bring in my own plastic bags when I go there, but always forget to. Several years ago one of those store chains came up with a brilliant idea of how to keep their parking lots clean of stray carts. Hense, cutting their cost. To get a cart you have to put a quarter in a slot on the cart to release it from the bunch. When your done if you hook it back up in the cart corale you get your quarter back. Pretty smart, hey?

I laughed after reading your post,but don't get me wrong in here I don't get the idea.Maybe everyone could have a party list,but I don't want they will do on congress if ever they had the chance to enter.What will be their concern,they have to present it to people transparently.In the first place,the name itself show it in bad way,Sabong or Cockfingting is like gambing.What help can they offer to public?they should explain it so that they will not be judge.

nope we don't have that here in our place. i don't think it's practical to do that. there are plastics that will torn immediately and it would be unfair to put taxes on it. the government must put a clear distinction on the types of plastics and paper bags. im sure people in our locality will have a violent reaction when that happens. the taxes collected here are rumored to be corrupted and it's not fair to put taxes on bags too.

We don't have a tax on plastic bags but I think it is a great idea and every country / city should impose taxes on use of plastic bags. It will help to protect the environment and will motivate people to use lesser plastic bags.

that tax thing on plastic bags are being thought of here in our country. I've watched the news yesterday and it says our government was thinking of putting up taxes on plastic grocery bags. I don't know if this really should be pursued or not, but there are pros and cons on this one.

No, we don't have to pay tax for plastic bags. But I think it is a good way to save the enviroment. As people will not like to pay tax everytime they use a plastic bag so it will reduce the use of plastic bags

i forget about what my system my country place in, but seems that every first Wednesday of each month, its carry your own bag day... i know my country, Ikea charges plastic bags for a small fee

In my city,people have to pay 0.1Yuan (nearly $o.o1)for each plastic bag in the supermarket. But the bags in the stores, small shops and restaurant are free. Although its cost is not dear , people here often remember to bring their cloth bags or paper bags with them before going to the supermarket. That is good for our city's environment. Abd the service of the supremarket is great,too. Once the plastic bags cannot be used to hold the goods, customers can exchange the old for a new one.