False Frugality to Save $0.05

January 23rd, 2010 admin No Comments »

The USAToday story: Five-cent highway robbery? Bag fee sparks rebellion reports that the first-of-its-kind law in the nation, requiring Washington D.C. shoppers to pay five cents for each disposable bag, is prompting some strangely false frugal behavior.

The newspaper reports Saturday that the 5-cent fee, begun New Year’s Day, is causing some people to shop instead in Virginia, where there’s a higher food tax, and others to carry armloads of food and beverages to their cars or offices, sometimes with disastrous results.

Virginia Johnson, in rejecting a plastic bag, saved five pennies on her $20 sushi order but then stumbled and watched the whole tray hit the ground. “It’s not rational, I know,” Johnson, a federal worker and self-described environmentalist, told the paper. “But this is where my zeal for conservation runs into my passion for small government. The bag tax makes me batty; I’ll do a lot to avoid paying it.”

Ariely is not surpised. He said since plastic bags have always been free, shoppers see them as a sort of entitlement. He expects outrage to lessen over time but behavior will continue to change as store clerks ask shoppers how many bags they want to buy.

I am all for saving pennies, since eventually they accumulate into dollars and before you know nature takes over and those dollars do start multiplying – but I can never imagine driving to another state just to save 5 cents!

Somewhat along the same lines, I have noticed that the CVS Green Bag Tag has prompted me to carry a larger purse when I shop. I try to remember to bring reusable cloth bags when grocery shopping, but sometimes I don’t have them in my car when I am doing a quick CVS run. But generally, the items I am purchasing at CVS can fit in my large handbag and I can get the $0.25 credit for using the Green Bag Tag (if I take a CVS plastic shopping bag I can’t get the credit). Perhaps Washington D.C will see a bigger handbag fashion trend as a result of this new $0.05 fee?

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