The Reality of Shopping Bag Fees

Has charging for plastic bags made a difference so far?

In California, stores must charge at least 10 cents per plastic bag at checkout (2022,Aug). A lot of people bring their own totes and reusable produce bags.

This summer, we visited the countryside of Japan. We were very thrilled to see what type of environmental activities they were working on because I often see Japanese people talk about SDG’s. (Sustainable Development Goals) We also wrote several articles about Japanese environmental activities in the past.

The truth is, I was surprised by the amount of plastics they still use in stores across Japan. Especially at the supermarket. In 2020, Japan has started to charge for plastic bags. But why are customers still purchasing plastic bags and not bringing their own bags? It turns out the charge is just 1-3 yen per bag. That means in current currency, the bag costs less than a penny! Nothing will improve that way. Of course, I do see a few people bringing their own bags but that’s not enough to solve this plastic problem at all!

You might think this Japanese story is irrelevant to you. But is that true?

I live in California and I am very careful about minimizing my use of plastics. But there are many situations where it's very difficult to do so.

The government should do more to support eco-friendly companies and research. Also the government could create stricter rules. Currently a lot of shops and stores cannot operate without plastic products. But if governments restricted the use of plastics country-wide and we found an alternate solution, we can fight these global environmental issues. We all need to understand and accept the changes for our future.

We could also use AI technology. AI can show the correct data of the amount of usage of plastics per area, age group etc to figure out if it is really helping to reduce the plastic. Based on data, we can plan what to do next.

People need to remember the real goal is to fight climate change.