Over at GreenBiz, the latest on the attempts to deal with the proliferation of plastic shopping bags. The majority of municipalities that have tackled the issue have banned plastic bags outright, while a minority, mostly in Europe, have opted for a tax instead. Several years ago, Washington DC began levying a five-cent tax on bags of all kinds—merchants charge customers an extra five cents if they ask for a bag for their purchases. Studies indicate that, where instituted, the tax has in fact curbed plastic bag use—Wales and Ireland, to name two, have reported a more than 90% reduction in the use of plastic bags. Back home in DC, the tax has also been reported as successful, having (as of 2011) raised more than $1.7 million for the Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Fund (part of the project was to install sewer grates to keep discarded plastic bags and other detritus from getting into the river) and—anecdotally, so make of this what you will—reduced plastic bag use by 50%. Critics of the bag tax (although, since the charge is actually avoidable, perhaps it should better be described as a “fee,” although this is just a matter of semantics) cite the usual negative impacts—lower retail sales, hurt businesses, loss of jobs—although none of these have actually been reported. Other critics point out that the bag tax is regressive, as it will impact lower-income residents more than more affluent ones. Fair point, although one related initiative implemented in DC was to distribute plastic bags to lower-income residents, students, and seniors. Maybe, though, “tax or ban” isn’t an either/or proposition. We have a tendency to opt for punitive ways of dealing with problems, but what if instead of punishing undesirable behavior we rewarded desirable behavior? As an example, instead of charging customers for bags, why not give them a credit if they bring in their own reusable bags, like supermarket chains do? (Here in Upstate New York, the two big supermarket chains—Price Chopper and Hannaford—give customers a three-cent credit for each reusable bag they present at checkout. I am unaware of the economics of this, but I suspect they make that back on having to stock and/or give out fewer bags. I suspect other chains have similar policies.) We could also create incentives for recycling plastic bags (or paper bags), such as offering on-site collection facilities much like many grocery stores today have those machines for recycling bottles and cans (when they work). And, perhaps instead of a tax or fee, maybe have a deposit on bags that you get back when you redeem them. Just blue-kying here... I just think that psychologically, sustainable behavior might be more successfully encouraged by positive rather than negative reinforcement. Thoughts?