ePlastic bags trapped in debris on local, Fairfax County streambank. Photo credit: Emily FoppeA plastic bag fee ordinance will be discussed at a public hearing on September 14 at 4:30 PM in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center. While this legislation is framed as a tax, the ordinance would be more similar to a user fee, because people can opt out by bringing their own bags and the money is partially retained by the store. Taxes are mandatory, so calling it a “bag tax” is misleading. Bag fees are a hot topic, but there are many misconceptions people use to push against them. Here, we touch on the four main categories that arguments fall into and “debunk” these misconceptions.

Plastic bags are not free and millions of taxpayer dollars are spent cleaning up these nuisance plastics. Stores include the cost of bags in the items they sell– just like other operating costs such as electricity and water– so you already pay for them. Part of the fee is returned back to stores to assist in covering costs of alternative bags or provide free reusable bags to low-income communities. Plastic bag fees are equitable for this reason and because the cost per year of such a bill on these communities has been found to be as low as $5. What’s more, reusable bags are better for the environment; they are not made out of fossil fuels and are not less “clean” compared to plastic bags. Plastic bags are not sterile and can be contaminated. We would even argue bringing and handling your own bag at checkout would have less room for potential germ transfer. Lastly, plastic pollution is all around (and in!) us. Tiny plastic particles, called microplastics, are in the air we breathe, food we eat, and endangering many species of animals.

Plastic bag fees provide a proactive and proven way of keeping pollution out of our waterways (and therefore, out of us), as opposed to popular reactive projects (e.g. litter clean-ups). Relying on recycling technologies and clean-ups, according to leading scientists, cannot alone solve the plastic pollution problem we are facing today. Plastic bag bills are an equitable, economically viable, and environmentally friendly solution to fight one front of plastic pollution. Check out Litter Free Virginia’s page for more myth-busting talking points about the single-use plastic bag fee.