Bagging on 5 cents?

I can qualified this entry as a "rant". I've worked early 2010 as a cashier for an IGA. I'll say it : IGA Extra Gladu, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Back in the days, Management would get after me if I didn't punch the code for the exact amount of plastic bags given to a customer. It's understandable, it is now a buyable product. This supermarket, like many others, charges 5 cents per plastic / paper bag taken by their customers. Usually, supermarkets charge for the plastic bags. This type of initiative got some attention back in Spring 2009 in the media for Loblaws, Provigo and Maxi, here in Quebec. (I did try to find some articles related to Sobey's about the matter - but I got lazy!) Just to give an idea how far 5 cents a bag can go:

Charge: 5¢ plus 1¢ HST
In effect: As of June 1, 2009
Average plastic retail shopping bags generated per household per week in Toronto: 8.8
Loblaws plastic bag usage: 55% reduction in 2009 after 5¢ fee introduced.
Loblaws diversion rate: 1.3-billion plastic bags diverted from landfill in 2009.
Loblaws donation to environment: $3 million of proceeds from 1,000 stores given over three years to WWF Canada.
Amount spent policing stores: $2 million per year

It represents a lot of money. As you can notice, this represent Loblaws not IGA but it was to give a basic understanding.

Back in the days at my IGA, I would ask: "Where does the money go?" I got the reply: "In the boss' pockets!" with a giggle. Seriously, I still shop there today. I was only a cashier for 3 months so a lot of the staff don't even remember me, most see me as a familiar face. When I ask, again today: "Where does the 5-cents go?" I still can't get a clear answer.

The implementation of a charge for the use of plastic is foremost to reduce use of plastic bags by customers, for environmental reasons. It's an incentive for the store's clientele to bring their reusable bags. Per 1000$ of sales - there's a 55% reduction of plastic bag usage by this type of punitive method compared to a rewarding system which only gave a 4% reduction (Source: Loblaws). I started using my reusable bags way before 5-cent charges on plastic bags started. I hate accumulating plastic bags at home. I use them, like others for garbage purposes. I didn't mind at the beginning paying 5 cents here and there for a plastic bag but it bothers me more and more now. It's not just the supermarkets anymore that charge them, it's my local stores, Zellers and others. Zellers, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, couldn't give me a straight answer either to where my 5-cent goes.

"Why do I even care 'bout this?", I asked myself. I realized that a plastic bag isn't worth 5 cents, it costs around from 0.0022$ to 0.0024$ to make. Looking at the figures in my example above, I sure hope that businesses reinvest those 5-cents in some environmental/non-profit organizations and it truly does not go in the bosses'/owners' pockets. Evidently for not having clear answers to my initial question: "Where does the 5-cent go?" - I use my reusable bags for environmental reasons and for fashionable reasons BUT ALSO I'M NOT GIVING THEM 5 CENTS ANYMORE. Oh yes! I am using caps here because it does make me want to scream because I feel like I'm being taken for an idiot but I guess it's all part of that punitive system so that I keep using my reusable bags.

/sighing loudly while banging my head against a door frame

References:
- http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/environnement/200904/21/01-848849-loblaws-provigo-et-maxi-exigent-5-cents-pour-les-sacs-a-usage-unique.php
- http://forums.redflagdeals.com/5-cents-per-plastic-bag-nets-loblaws-39-7-million-2009-time-boycott-loblaws-985899/
- http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/08/03/14913421.html
- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090404151826AAgM2Yv