We now have to pay a 5-cent tax for each paper or plastic shopping bag we get at stores in Montgomery County, Maryland. And I’ve already gotten suckered into it twice on opening day. (This new tax went into effect Jan. 1 — kind of like my free Wendy’s Frosties, only it doesn’t require me to bring my own cups!)
I remember when the bag trend hit Washington, D.C., a couple years back, where everyone was charged 5 cents every time they needed a bag for purchases of food and alcohol (including, as luck would have it for me, Subway). It seems now it’s spread to the great state of Maryland too. Which is good and bad.
Good because obviously we’re trying to save the environment here and many of us like nabbing those bags left and right without a care in the world (or at least I used to).
Bad because now it’s costing us every time we do it. And double when you extra-bag it for milk and other heavy items at the grocery store — quickly making your total add up. (I think on our last trip we used like 25 plastic bags, which would have come to $1.25.)
(Excerpt) Read more at money.msn.com …
