No More Plastic Bags In Albany County, Paper Bags To Cost A Nickel

Plastic bags will soon be no more in Albany County. WNYT reports that the legislator voted 22-14 in favor of charging five cents for paper bags. That would be a nickel per-bag. They claim it is to encourage the use of reusable bags.

I totally get it. We want to help the environment and limiting plastic bag use is a big deal in the fight. However charging for paper bags is not a solution to that. How is it helpful to begin charging for bags?

Personally I will probably end up using the reusable bags when this all goes into effect next March, but I think they need to rethink the bag fee. It's not something I think many people will go for.

However using your own bags can help because I believe some grocery stores take a nickel off of your total for total bags you reuse. Perhaps there is balance?

Photo: Getty