Fees for grocery bags July 26, 2008

Well I was reading in the news that Portland is thinking about putting a fee on grocery bags. I usually do not like taxes and fees but this one is a good idea. I already use my own reusable bags when I shop. Most stores have them for sale and they are not that expensive to buy. One store I shop at gives me .10 cents for every bag I use of my own instead of one of theirs. If we look at this it is a win win situation.

First the stores will not have to buy bags. This is a big expense for them I am sure as like I said one store gives you .10 cents so you know they are paying more than that for them. Now if they can cut this expense then it would help with the high price of groceries which seem to go up every week. Anything we can do that will help our money go further is good.

The other good thing is this would be very good for the environment. We have the opportunity to make a difference in our world and help clean up our planet for ourselves and our families and future generations. We all have the chance to make a real difference. It is just a matter of making the effort to bring your own bags. I keep mine in the car all the time. They take up almost no room in the trunk and that way I have them all the time.

We live in a great place that is beautiful and this is a small price to pay for helping the environment. Now as I said I do not like new taxes or fee but this one is one nobody has to pay. You can buy the bags at most stores for $1.00 or less and I have paid for mine several times as I mentioned getting .10 cents off for using them. Once you have them you never have to worry again.

The only problem I can see with this is how the county does this. The first thing is all stores that sell food should be included from the small quick mart kind to the biggest stores. They have to make sure it is fair and all stores are treated the same. They should be able to enact this without any cost to tax payers and use the money collected should be used for something good like buying bags for low income people or maybe schools. I also think that if this does well they should think about making it state wide. There are other cities that have similar fees but we could be the first state to make it state wide.

Happy July 04, 2008

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July. We live in the greatest country in the world and we have so many freedoms that have been earned by our service men and women. I want to thank them all for giving so much for our country.