I do remember discussing it here months ago when they were just starting to think about it.. In the late 70's in kansas, a chain called "Milgrams" gave you a 5 cent credit for each bag you did NOT use..When your groceries were all bagged and you were ready to leave, they would give you the money as you left.... Wow!! a quarter for the horsie out front :)
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7415176San Francisco Ponders Ecology Tax for Grocery Bags
Mon Jan 24, 2005 06:10 PM ET
By Adam Tanner
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
San Francisco, which has long prided itself on environmentally friendly policies, is debating whether it should become the first U.S. city to tax grocery bags to encourage recycling. On Tuesday, the city's Department of the Environment will vote on whether to recommend a 17 cent fee on each bag, be it paper or plastic, in an effort to curb the use of an estimated 50 million bags a year in the Californian city.
snip.....
Environmentalists say that plastic bags create significant litter problems, are rarely recycled and are a threat to marine life. They add that 14 million trees a year are needed to make 10 billion paper grocery bags nationwide. The city uses 90 percent plastic, 10 percent paper, so the problem is largely plastic. The Environment Department says the 17 cents figure represents costs to the city to clean up and dispose of each plastic bag.
snip.....
Plastics industry groups oppose the measure and dispute some of the statistics used by San Francisco officials. Donna Dempsey, an official at the Society of the Plastics Industry, said, for example, that a San Francisco Environment Department claim that the United States uses 12 million barrels of oil annually to make 30 billion plastic bags is just wrong. Instead, she gave a figure of one million barrels of naphtha, an petroleum derivative.
snip....
"Bag fees are working in Ireland, Australia, Taiwan Bangladesh and other places," he said in an interview. "Far too many producers and retailers only consider price and consumer convenience in their packaging decisions and leave the public to foot the bill." Some countries already charge for grocery bags, including Ireland, which imposed a 15 cent fee per bag in 2002. Shoppers in other countries such as Russia have long relied on bringing their own fishnet bags and even shopping strollers to haul home groceries and other goods.
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