We really should move away from plastic and paper bags as well as all unnecessary plastic waste like bottles. Once we get the hang of it it's not a big deal to fill your own bottle and carry it around or to bring your bag to the shop. This is the least effort we can do for the environment. And regarding the reports about bacteria in reusable bags, the bags will be as clean as the owner and a few bacteria are good for your immune system. If you want clean reusable bags, buy kerribags (www.kerribag.com) they are easily wipe cleanable, I use them all the time. Much easier to clean than cloth bags.

This has been done in other countries and within a year the cities and bulbs were clean. No trash hung in trees, sewer lines or left in dumps, blowing around. They were taxed and the tax raised nearly no money after a few months.
Put a couple of reusable bags in your car, mini van, which I guarantee you has more bacteria than a reusable bag, and roll.

I would not want to reuse bags for meats, dairy, or vegetables. There are more and more instances of salmonella, e coli infections, etc, without increasing your chances of getting one of these. I reuse my bags from the store for trash, holding recyclables, etc., so they get used more than once.

Ban the bag! A quick drive down any street in the county will highlight the bag problem - bags and other litter are everywhere! I'd like to see bag manufacturers come up with a product that starts to biodegrade after 6 months - with expiration dates printed on the bags - and those bags could be used for meats, etc. For everything else, reusable and washable nylon bags are the way to go. Let's all take some responsibility for our county and do what we can to cut down on the use of throw-away bags that litter our streets and parks.

It's always interesting to me the arguments folks can make for things that are a privilege, not a right. It isn't our right to have free bags; free bags aren't mentioned in the Bill of Rights. It's a privilege to get free bags. If it were taken away, we - as a society - would simply adapt. It's just not that big a deal to carry a few cloth bags with you (or a reusable bottle/cup for that matter!). Before people had the luxury of free paper or plastic bags, they still managed to shop and get their foods and goods home. It would be incredible to see a world without junky plastic bags and bottles everywhere. I would be glad to pay a bag tax - but then again, I've been shopping with my own bags for years and being paid for it, so it would rarely affect me. If folks are concerned about their cloth bags, there are options there too - we have organic cotton bags and jute bags in our "collection" as well as just the usual ones you can pick up anywhere. Both are fully biodegradable and the jute type can even be composted. And you can wash any cloth bag, of course, if you're worried about bacteria, mold, mystery dirt in the bags. Ours have taken many spins on the gentle cycle. No problem. Sometimes solutions are so simple - so small- and if folks would all work together instead of clamoring for immediate convenience and making excuses, everyone would benefit. Seriously, who enjoys seeing plastic bag litter?

OH NO......Ullman knows about Mont Cnty using this already........Ullman's 'studying' it?
Jesus Christ people......is there ANY AREA OF OUR LIFE that the govt will just leave us alone on? They have to enter EVERY AREA? The nanny-state is running amok. And by the way the fed govt is overspending (and duh, over-regulating,legislating) to the tune of $1.4Trillion per year. That's $20,000 to 70million people, folks!!!! We are racing towards the wall/cliff with this nonsense. And all they spend time doing is how to spend more and how to tax more -- in HoCo's case......speedlights, move-over law, bag tax.....etc, etc. I'm getting more than tired of it. Our country is moving Greece-like, a little too fast and a little too obviously!!!!!!

The bags have lead paint in them? I don't have to guess where they are manufactured.
Lead in toys, herbal supplements with traces of prescription drugs, Mercury in crab meat? What next? Arsenic in the Ramen noddles?

I think the government should stay out of it. The greatest danger in our country today is an increasingly intrusive government. Yes, ticket people for making the area for which they're responsible a pig sty. But government sticks its noses into our lives whenever it can to 1) tax us, and 2) control us. I don't want any more of this, as there's already way too much.

I cherish my liberties, that according to our Declaration of Independence come NOT from government, but a higher power. The United States of America became the greatest country in history not by its government regulating shopping bags or light bulbs, not by controlling us, but because of the liberties granted to each of us from that higher power.

Horrors! What are all of the dog walkers going to use to pick up thier doggy poop? And what can I use to put the kitty litter leftovers into, before I put it in the garbage can? Oh, horrors.

The bag tax/fee whatever you want to call it is not so much about generating revenue as it about getting people to stop wasteful behavior. Most of the world shops in markets and guess what, they bring their own bags. What people fail to realize is that they are already paying for disposable bags (the store passes the cost on to the consumer). Nothing is free.

Guess what? You are so right!