Photos: Leggett Tries to Prepare Shoppers for County Bag Tax
Under a new Montgomery County law, paper or plastic bags from retailers cost customers five cents.
Dozens of shoppers popping into Safeway in Hillandale got more than the bargains they were looking for, finding themselves being greeted by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett handing out reusable grocery bags.
Leggett visited the store Tuesday morning to give away hundreds of such bags to help customers mitigate a new cost for shoppers -- paying a nickel for each paper or plastic grocery bag under the county’s bag tax, which took effect Jan. 1.
“We're making a very strong effort in the next few days to make sure we get the word out, to make sure people understand the law,” Leggett said. The county executive introduced the bill last spring and it passed the County Council in May 2011 with just one opposing vote. (Councilmember Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) was a vocal opponent.)
The tax is expected to generate about a million dollars in revenue this year, according to Leggett. The money will go toward solid waste management, watershed restoration, litter pick-up and stormwater management.
“This is not a revenue generator for us,” Leggett explained. “Montgomery County’s budget is about $4.6 billion so a million is hardly a revenue source that is going to make a difference in Montgomery County.
“If we get more money, that means we’re not as successful,” he continued. “We would prefer to have less money. That means people are using the bags.”
A spokesperson for Safeway’s DC-area stores said the company doesn’t “necessarily” support the tax, but that stores have tried to get on board to avoid passing on a cost to customers. Signs were posted near entrances and at checkstands to remind customers about the tax.
“It’s our goal that no one has to pay a nickel, we hope that everyone brings a reusable bag,” said Gregory TenEyck, director of public affairs for Safeway’s eastern division.
“The nickel is enough to encourage people to bring reusable bags, but it’s also not so much that people are being dramatically affected financially," he said. "It’s an inconvenience to have to pay an extra nickel, dime, quarter for some bags that you used to get for free.”
Trisha Chicas, a Hillandale resident, was prepared to pay a few cents extra before Leggett handed her a couple of complimentary bags.
“It’s a lot of work to bring your bags,” she said. “Sometimes you forget, you have kids […] I have two [reusable bags] and I forgot them.
“I understand the point in a way, but I think people will still forget,” Chicas said.
Bob
4:25 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
So, are plastic bottles (which is what I see all over the river and parks) next? You've opened pandoras box now! why didn't you legislate bags that break down in a short period of time like California did or is it really a "greedy money grab" by the council and the executive? When will you tax air?
Bill Redmond
4:51 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012
@bob - don't give them ideas.
Paul Hlavinka
7:40 am on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
It is a step in a direction, and a bold one at that. The idea on degradable bags is one that you should promote, and others if you have them. I am one of those volunteers who is out in the parks and along the roadsides and in the streams, finding and picking up trash. I am amazed at what folks throw out their car windows. Bags are a considerable problem, as are the other items you mention. In many cases people actually stop and get out and just dump garbage in areas that are our parks. Protecting these areas that buffer our streams is the best to ensure we have clean water to drink, and a step towards protecting what ultimately ends up in the Chesapeake Bay.
MocoLoco
8:20 am on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Paul, thank you for volunteering--I mean this genuinely. Since you're on the front line here, could you give us a little more perspective on this problem? (The Patch would probably even publish a longer piece, if you were so inclined.) The bag fee is not going to address the worst offenders, who dump all of their garbage, so that probably shouldn't be a consideration in whether to charge this fee. And, using the bag fee to fund clean-ups is bad policy, because the very purpose of the fee is to change behavior and minimize what is collected through the fee. The last thing we want is to tell people that we are funding a litter cleanup program, and then find that people avoid the fee, so there's little funding for the program after all. If litter clean up is important (which it is), it should be a budget line-item.
Paul Hlavinka
10:26 pm on Saturday, January 7, 2012
MocoLoco (I don't actually know your real name), we were hoping you would show and help today with this trash pickup. I did take notes of what you had said about bags and tried to document some of what we found. Not sure if it was you or not, but there was mention of the bags only coming from grocery stores. What I noted and took photos of included Barnes and Noble, Footlocker, and Kmart, in addition to grocery bags. Interesting but I found no newspaper bags, another concern that had been showing up in the concerns in this Patch blog. I did find one small bag, with dog poo inside, so I guess those don't always make their way to the garbage. I also noted that the bags were making their way further along the path to streams, and were more visible in the stream itself. Take a look at our photos, hopefully this is interesting for you.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Muddy-Branch-Alliance/134042406666556#!/photo.php?fbid=248753261862136&set=a.197691283635001.45384.134042406666556&type=1&theater
MocoLoco
9:44 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Paul, thank you for the clean up, and for addressing my questions. You make a compelling case. I wonder if you will see a decrease in the bags going forward.
MocoLoco
8:26 am on Monday, January 9, 2012
Paul--those pictures were actually pretty disturbing. There's a lot of garbage there. Leaving aside the plastic bags, how do we prevent the other litter? Do you think it is people tossing garbage from their car? Where do you think it comes from?
Poopsie
7:39 pm on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Custom reusable bags are available:
http://www.cafepress.com/taxedtodeathinmontgomerycounty.607947283
Paul Hlavinka
10:24 pm on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Poopsie, that is too funny!
Paul Hlavinka
10:36 pm on Wednesday, January 4, 2012
MocoLoco,
If you are serious about getting a perspective, from those front lines, you are more than welcome to come pickup trash with us this weekend. We will picking up a one mile stretch of road, a portion that crosses over the Muddy Branch. If you are not real familiar, the Muddy Branch is a small stream that has its' headwaters in of all places, downtown Gaithersburg. Our group cleans this portion of road, but also schedules pickups all over this particular watershed. There is no cost, and we are not paid to pick this up. If you find plastic bags you desire to use later, you can keep those items. The other stuff we find will be brought to the dump, or recycled. For information on how to join us, you can go to the attached link. We would really value the help.
http://www.muddybranch.org/event/adopt-road-pickup
Carolyn Elefant
11:34 am on Thursday, January 5, 2012
If Safeway were really concerned about the environment, it would have provided bio-degradable bags to customers. Let's face it, Safeway makes money off this law - it gets an extra penny for each 5 cent bag it provides to customers and no longer has to pay money out of pocket for bags. Safeway is on the www.facebook.com/bagthebaglaw wall of shame for its complicity in this terrible law and its failure to take steps to mitigate impacts to customers - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=264574383605654&set=pu.264266150303144&type=1&theater