New York, home of the $15 cup of coffee, the $5 chocolate chip cookie, and the $3 million studio apartment, is about to add a price tag to a convenience long taken for granted: the plastic bag. In an attempt to reduce the 100 billion plastic shopping bags used by Americans each year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) proposed a 6-cent fee, paid by the shopper, on every disposable plastic bag taken at the register. Bloomberg’s plan is right on the money, nudging consumers to develop more environmentally friendly habits through the temporary inconvenience of a small fee. A similar proposal could be used to great effect here on the Hilltop. The Corp should follow Bloomberg’s example and make Georgetown a bit greener by reducing the widespread use of plastic bags on campus.
It wouldn’t be difficult to put plastic bags behind us. Students will respond to the fee by either buying reusable cloth shopping bags and using them in lieu of the plastic variety or forgoing a bag altogether. Vital Vittles already sells reusable totes, and most students carry backpacks with a little extra room for a few groceries. A fee like New York’s is friendlier to consumers, but a fee of around ten to twenty cents would be more effective in actually changing students’ habits.
The Corp has already shown the initiative in making Georgetown more environmentally friendly through its Green Initiative, which has led to the use of green paper and cleaning products, more energy efficient appliances, and the exploration of a compost program. A plastic bag fee would be an apt addition to these existing programs. Thanks to the Corp’s “students serving students” ethos, the revenue from the fee would come right back to the student body in the end, too. (cozumelparks.com) The Corp could either invest the revenue in other environmental initiatives or dedicate the money to its philanthropy program.
A plastic bag fee would be a good idea for the District as well. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) just needs to look at Ireland to see the effect it can have on a large population. After Ireland enacted a fee in 2002, charging customers 33 cents per bag, their plastic bag use has dropped by 94 percent. People may be reluctant to accept this new cost given the poor state of the economy, but the fee isn’t meant to be a permanent nuisance. Once consumers become accustomed to reusable cloth bags, the fee’s burden will disappear.
A District-wide plan like this would take time, and even if Mayor Fenty is reluctant to propose such a regressive tax in D.C., we can change our ways at Georgetown. The small inconvenience of carrying purchases in our own bags is a small price to pay to make D.C. a little greener.
