Fees

Colorado banned plastic bags from large retail stores at the beginning of 2024. A new state ordinance also prohibits restaurants and retail food establishments from using Styrofoam takeout containers. In Boulder, food shoppers have been paying 10 cents for every bag they need at checkout since 2013, with only paper and heavy-duty plastic bags available. Those fees were expanded this year to retail stores of all kinds and sizes. The Conversation interviewed Eleanor Putnam-Farr, an assistant professor of marketing at Rice University and co-author of “Forgot Your Bottle or Bag Again? How Well-Placed Reminder Cues Can Help Consumers Build Sustainable Habits,” about the challenges of changing people’s behavior – even when their intentions are good. How popular are plastic bag bans and taxes? Laws like Colorado’s are popular. Twelve states, plus Puerto Rico, and more than 300 municipalities, including Philadelphia, have banned plastic bag use by consum...