There is No Free Bag
Free bags are just like the proverbial free lunch. If you are getting a free lunch, you are likely to have to pay for it in other ways. Just as there is no free lunch, there is no free bag. Even though you don’t see a separate fee for bags in most places, you are still paying for them in lots of ways.
Retailers pay 2 to 5 cents per bag. This adds up–day after day, year after year. Estimates by the Anacostia Watershed Society figures the average Marylander takes 750 bags a year, at an estimated cost of $15 to $37.50 a year. This cost is passed on to consumers through higher prices on other items, like pasta, produce, and dairy products, making it a “hidden” cost.
Bag fees, such as the one in force in Washington DC, are pro-consumer because they expose the hidden cost of bags and allow the customer to avoid it. Unlike a tax, the bag fee can be avoided. As Trash Free Maryland notes: “if you don’t want to pay the bag fee, you never have to!” We agree!
Don’t take a free bag. Take your own! Request a quote and see how you can be part of the solution.