The bag ban: follow the money

Earlier this year, state Sen Mark Hass thought he’d done the work necessary to get a plastic bag ban passed by the Oregon Legislature. And up until the moment the Senate voted on his bill in February, it appeared he was going to be successful. Then three Democratic Senators, who sat silent during the floor debate, stabbed him and Oregon’s environmental community in the back. Their votes led to a tie vote, and, in the Leg, a tie is not a win.

Hass is back a second time, and it looks like he’ll not have to worry about sneak attacks from colleagues. His bill will be co-sponsored by Republican Senator Jason Atkinson (presuming Atkinson can avoid shooting himself again) and should be able to muster the 19 votes needed to head to the Governor’s desk for signature (the House is very unlikely not to support the bill). Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but there are a couple of important pieces to the 2011 approach over last year.

Hass is not only working with Republicans (Rep Vic Gilliam, R-Silverton, is sponsoring the bill in the House, not necessarily to promote it but to ensure the discussion occurs), he’s working with Oregon’s grocers. They, after all, will need to provide the means for their customers to get groceries home. Since the second part of the bill is to have grocers charge a nickel for paper bags, working with the stores is a crucial element.

And the cool part about the paper bag fee is that stores keep that money; it’s not a fee paid to the state. This is a cost born entirely by shoppers who fail to bring their own bags. While the plastic bag ban is the headliner of this act, it’s this nickel fee that will change the game.

I lived in England for 5 years in the last 70s, and over there, many shoppers provided their own bags. String bags were common: compact, strong, easy on the contents. Of course, there were plenty of plastic bags, too, but the ease with which so many people used their own bags showed me early on a viable alternative (one that took me too many years to adopt myself, I’m afraid). Here in Portland, the use of non-disposable bags, either paper or plastic (both are bad for the environment), is common but still in desperate need of advancement. Mayor Sam Adams would like Portland to ban bags as San Francisco and several other cities have done; perhaps, like me, he remembers that Portland banned styrofoam food containers over 20 years ago and the fast food industry did not leave town.

In other words, retailers adjust quickly to standards set to protect the planet.

By zapping shoppers with a nickel for each bag used, and many shoppers demand double-bagging, the bill will hang a few extra bucks on most shoppers each month. Now economists will explain that this kind of cost is unlikely to change consumer behavior, but I’m not so sure. Trip after trip to the grocer, even the corner store, and a nickel a pop; eventually more folks will wise up. Not only are we likely to see more canvas and string bags used, I wouldn’t be surprised to see consumers bringing their own boxes. A plastic crate is a few bucks, can carry far more than a few paper bags, won’t tip in the car, stacks away neatly, and can be used for to take the bottles back to the store (Alton Brown would love the multi-functionality).

That nickel could end up having a domino effect on how Oregonians shop. Provided the get pissed at that stupid nickel enough to get smart enough to live without disposable bags.

It appears that the state’s major grocers see the writing on the wall: plastic bags are going to get banned. As the Fred Meyer representative notes, better a statewide approach than a piece-meal, city-by-city jumble. If Portland bans bags, then expect Eugene and others to follow suit, and expect that none will have exactly the same set of rules — not to mention the hundreds of towns that will continue to allow the plastic (and possibly one that will perversely ban cloth bags for “health” reasons). A bill passed by the Legislature that covers the entire state, and that emerges from dialogue with all affected parties, is the best solution.

Of course, it will still make both Jack Bog & Lars’ heads explode. We’ll just call that a bonus.