Papa's got a brand new reusable bag

By Christopher Forestieri

Every time I go shopping, I notice more and more people bringing their own bags. I made the decision to start doing so a few years ago for primarily selfish reasons.

I lived on a third floor apartment and carrying 20 plastic bags up the narrow staircase just didn’t work for me. Then, there was the matter of what to do with my growing bag collection; my recycling service wouldn’t accept them and I felt too guilty to throw them in the trash.

Switching to four durable canvas bags made sense to me and has worked now for several years. However, such is not the case for everyone.

One Illinois farmer learned the hard way that getting his customers to switch from plastic to reusable bags is no easy task.

According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Henry Brockman began charging a quarter for four plastic bags after realizing that his business was adding “30,000 petroleum-based plastic bags into the environment a year.”

At the Evanston farmers market where he sets up shop weekly, many of his regulars were outraged. Some threatened never to return and one even went as far as to carry their produce home in their hands as a sign of protest.

However, Brockman’s plan has worked. Without a substantial loss of business, he has managed to hand out 90 percent fewer bags so far.

One way merchants can produce Brockman’s results without drawing the ire of their patrons is to follow the lead of another Midwestern town.

This month, the AP reported that the Shorewood Conservation Committee delivered free reusable bags to every household in Shorewood, Wisc. The article noted that, “the group has calculated that if each household used the reusable bag twice a week, it would save 720,000 or more bags from going into landfills.”

The best part of the plan is that that, instead of passing the cost on to customers, they have solicited and received funding for the bags by local businesses which, in turn, have placed their logos on the sides of the bags for advertising. This should make for a smoother transition that more people are likely to turn into an everyday habit.

At a time when many feel they are being nickel-and-dimed at every turn to fill the gaps of a slumping economy (be it fees at the air port or the daily rise in gas and food costs) the last thing that is going to win people over is another “tax.”

In the tough business of encouraging people to make lifestyle changes, it is always smart to find someone else to pick up the tab.