Plastic Bags

As an employee at a grocery store in Montgomery County, I am pleased with the implementation of the new bag tax, a law that initially began in Washington. I think that it would be beneficial for Baltimore County, as well as other Maryland counties, to study the idea and consider passing an anti-litter tax. This law would have a positive impact because stores will have to order less bags. Typically, a case of plastic bags costs about $30; paper bags are even more costly. Furthermore, customers will be more mindful about not wasting bags if they have to pay for each one. They will likewise be encouraged to take their reusable bags back to the store to do their shopping.

Dan Rodricks proclaims his annoyance with those of us who walk out of grocery stores with plastic bags ("Overpriced popcorn, O's early-season tease and other annoyances," April 26). I'd wager that the majority of us who offend Mr. Rodricks in this way are dog owners. I have three big ones, and they leave big messes on lawns. If you want me to pick up after them, I need plastic bags to do it. Sorry if it's ecologically unsound, but I'm not about to use a cloth bag and wash the bag. Fred Pasek, Frederick

As a Baltimore City resident and environmental law student at the University of Maryland School of Law, I was pleased to see the attention brought to the Baltimore City Council's current efforts to curb waste from discarded plastic bags ("Besieged by Bags," Feb. 22). However, I do not agree with the criticism of the council's efforts without recognition of their ongoing dedication to this critical issue. Given the deliberation of two separate ordinances which would reduce plastic bag pollution (the 25-cent fee and a flat ban)

In a Jan. 19 letter, Matthew Pasalic saysPrince George's County should follow Montgomery's lead on the bag tax, and I don't agree. Every time I go into a grocery store the prices have gone up and this has been going on for quite awhile. My husband and I shop at four food stores in order to hold down costs. The last thing we need is to be charged for plastic bags. Mr. Pasalic says a case of plastic bags cost the store about $30. Not to worry, the cost is passed on to the customer.

After years of debating whether to ban disposable plastic store bags or slap a fee on them, the Baltimore City Council appears poised now to try fighting the city's litter problem with half a ban. Under a bill endorsed by a council committee Tuesday, food sellers would be given a choice of offering only paper bags or encouraging their customers to cut back on or recycle the plastic ones. James B. Kraft, chairman of the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations panel, said the measure should overcome objections store owners have to an outright bag ban or fee, which the panel had been considering since 2008.

While the good intentions of a "plastic bag tax" for store shopping bags to prevent pollution is admirable, I do take one issue to Mr. Pasalic's letter (Leader, Jan. 19). Specifically the line "five cents never put anyone into poverty. " One thing is for certain, once you give the government an inch with taxes, they eventually take the mile. Take a look at your phone bill. Many years back the government said, "We're gonna add just a teeny weeny tax on your phone bill. It's just a few cents and it's for the children's education!"

Food stores and restaurants in Baltimore would be barred from giving away disposable plastic bags under a bill to be considered by City Council, unless the merchants join a program to encourage their customers to recycle or shop with reusable bags. Putting aside earlier proposals to ban disposable plastic bags outright or levy a 25-cent fee on them, the council's Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee approved, 3-0 with two members absent, what members have dubbed a "mandatory-voluntary" approach.

Plastic grocery bags can be both good and bad. They are good for when you are on the go and have no reusable bags. Sometimes you unexpectedly have to go to the store for something you need. Plastic bags are also good for when you buy meats, fruits and dairy products. If you used reusable bags for everything you purchased at the grocery store, it would leak or damage your other products. On the other hand, plastic bags are not good for our environment. Plastic bags are one of the biggest trash items adding to the big mess on our streets and waters.

Now, let's talk about something really important -- the number of plastic shopping bags blowing through the Patapsco Drainage Basin. Have you seen them this year? They're swarming. From Glenelg to Glen Burnie, from Pylesville to Pikesville, from Arbutus to Arcadia, from Pigtown to Joppatowne, from Hereford to Thereford -- you get the idea -- these bags cling to tree limbs and chain-link fences. They're a menace. If he were not dead, Ed Wood would make a movie about them.We had a long winter, see, with lots of snow-panic shopping; too many people making too many trips to the supermarket equals too many blue bags.

An Annapolis city council member formally introduced legislation last night to outlaw the use of plastic bags in all retail establishments within the city limits. Under the bill, merchants would have to issue recyclable paper bags or reusable bags or face a fine of up to $500. The aim of the ordinance is to protect the environment, said Alderman Samuel E. Shropshire, the bill's sponsor. "Plastic bags are ending up in landfills and blowing around in the wind and ending up in waterways.

While the good intentions of a "plastic bag tax" for store shopping bags to prevent pollution is admirable, I do take one issue to Mr. Pasalic's letter (Leader, Jan. 19). Specifically the line "five cents never put anyone into poverty. " One thing is for certain, once you give the government an inch with taxes, they eventually take the mile. Take a look at your phone bill. Many years back the government said, "We're gonna add just a teeny weeny tax on your phone bill. It's just a few cents and it's for the children's education!"

As an employee at a grocery store in Montgomery County, I am pleased with the implementation of the new bag tax, a law that initially began in Washington. I think that it would be beneficial for Baltimore County, as well as other Maryland counties, to study the idea and consider passing an anti-litter tax. This law would have a positive impact because stores will have to order less bags. Typically, a case of plastic bags costs about $30; paper bags are even more costly. Furthermore, customers will be more mindful about not wasting bags if they have to pay for each one. They will likewise be encouraged to take their reusable bags back to the store to do their shopping.

How entertaining it was to hear on the news recently that the environmentalist wackos who inhabit this state are at it again with a new proposal to charge retail customers 5 cents each for the use of plastic bags at stores. This is a nuisance tax proposal, plain and simple. Its passage would have little to no economic significance or benefit to anyone, save for the state of Maryland, which would then put these funds into its coffers in the name of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay It is absurd to even consider such legislation.

In his Jan. 11 column ( "Conservatives' rhetoric more violent" Tom Schaller wrote: "...today's violent political imagery is produced almost exclusively by paranoid conservatives. " In his Jan. 25 column ( "More evidence of violence on the right" following a list of alleged acts of violence he attributed to persons on the political right, Mr. Schaller wrote: "To my critics, I pose a simple challenge: Produce a comparable list of violent acts or attempted acts in the past two years perpetuated by supporters of [liberal causes]

Firefighters found an unconscious woman in a burning house in the 1600 block of E. Lafayette Avenue Sunday evening, according to fire department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright. The woman was pronounced dead at the house by medics, but it was not clear whether she died as a result of the fire. Her name and age were not released. Cartwright said firefighters responded to a call about 6:30 pm and found a lot of debris, including personal items, magazines, lumber, plastic bags and other items when they went through the front door.

Everyone wants "to see fewer bags tossed onto streets and alleys," as your editorial puts it ("Paper, plastic or meaningless legislation?" March 18). Fortunately the Baltimore City Council did not agree that a confusing new tax is the only way to achieve this. Most states and cities that have wrestled with bag policy have opted for strong recycling programs and citizen education -- not new taxes. Baltimore shoppers today have ample access to recycling bins for plastic retail bags, dry cleaning bags, product wraps -- even this newspaper's delivery bags!

Next time you travel, try using plastic dry-cleaner bags to keep clothes from getting crushed. Cut the bags into shapes suitable for blouses, sweaters, etc. Then fold the clothes over the bags. You'll find they trap enough air to prevent wrinkling. And pack extras; they come in handy for storing wet bathing suits and dirty laundry.* In some cases -- with knit pants, for example -- it's easier to roll the pants and plastic together. This takes up less room and is a guarantee against creases.

Plastic bags have been in the air and in the news. Thursday morning, I braved the cold weather to snag "a floater," a blue plastic grocery bag carried into the backyard by springtime winds. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, some plastic bags have been banned. Citing the burden the bags put on the environment, the dangers they pose to marine life and the general nuisance factor, the city's Board of Supervisors recently voted to outlaw plastic bags at the checkouts of large supermarkets and chain pharmacies.

A proposal in the Baltimore City Council to help clean up the environment by limiting the use of plastic bags in shops and stores is a perfect example of a law so compromised by the demands of competing special interests that it ends up accomplishing nothing. The plan endorsed Tuesday by a City Council panel started out honestly enough. Three years ago, the council began considering proposals to deal with the mounting problem of plastic and paper bag waste accumulating on city streets.

A proposal in the Baltimore City Council to help clean up the environment by limiting the use of plastic bags in shops and stores is a perfect example of a law so compromised by the demands of competing special interests that it ends up accomplishing nothing. The plan endorsed Tuesday by a City Council panel started out honestly enough. Three years ago, the council began considering proposals to deal with the mounting problem of plastic and paper bag waste accumulating on city streets.