Starting with January 2009, plastic and paper bags will no longer be free of charge for the Seattle shoppers. On Monday the City Council approved a 20-cent fee for each disposable paper or plastic bag used at grocery, drug and convenience stores in Seattle. While the plastic bag was banned in other U.S. cities, Seattle is the first to discourage their use by charging a fee.  

"I think after a few months of legislation, we will wonder what all the fuss was about," said Councilmember Tim Burgess for the Seattle Times . "Same as when we moved to mandatory recycling."

This fee is a major step taken in order to reduce the amount of trash sent to an Oregon landfill. Plastic bags are considered to be a big problem. Councilman Ed Reyes declared for the Los Angeles Times  the following: "You see them on sidewalks and in gutters, clogging up the storm drains, floating in the river and ocean."

The Los Angeles City Council joined the environmental anti disposable bag plan last week with its call to support a 25-cent-per-bag charge for plastic bags in all stores starting in 2010.

Low-income residents of Seattle will be provided with at least one free reusable bag per household. Large grocery stores will keep a nickel per disposable bag. Small stores can keep all 20 cents.

Stephen L. Joseph is the advocate who is set to save the disposable bags through the “Save the Plastic Bag” campaign. A year after the annihilation of the plastic bag began, he was called to take on the cause. He finds this mission very challenging.

A 90-day education effort will be launched by the city of Seattle in order to help people figure out the best ways to use cloth bags and to learn them not to forget them at home when they go shopping. The members of the Council are not interested in the actual payment of the fee. On the contrary they are helping the citizens avoid it as much as possible.