For residents of D.C.,
reusable bags may soon become staples not to be forgotten when making a purchase. With less than a month left until the bag fee in D.C. goes into effect, the District is helping out by donating over 112,000 reusable bags to seniors and low-income residents in the city.
Council
approved the bag fee in June, and beginning January 1, 2010, single use plastic and paper bags will come with a price tag of five cents each. All businesses selling food and alcohol will be required to collect the fee and the money raised will be used to clean up the heavily polluted Anacostia River and educate the public about litter.
This fee stands out from
other fees that have been implemented around the country because it applies to both single use paper and plastic bags. The environmentally responsible choice is to use reusable bags, and the District Department of the Environment is helping to make this possible. As part of the "Skip the Bag, Save the River" campaign, the DDOE will host several bag giveaways throughout the month of December. Any citizen in need of a reusable bag can get one, free of charge. View dates and locations
here.
