The government often steps into the spheres of our everyday lives and issues regulations that prove effective and useful. Most everyone will agree that more energy-efficient appliances have been wonderful. Energy label requirements caused home appliances such as washers and refrigerators to use far less electricity. Partially as the result of EPA regulations, cars go further on each gallon of gas. All of this is good for the environment and our pocketbooks.
A new regulatory trend has begun in more left-leaning American cities: banning disposable grocery bags. Here in Austin, the city banned both plastic and paper bags as a way to reduce litter and to enforce conservation of resources. However, the moratorium on disposable plastic and paper bags may lead to unintended consequences: An increase in foodborne illness, an increase in cost to consumers and an increase in retail theft.
A scientific study by food safety professionals showed that reusable bags are an excellent vector for growth and spread of such pathogens as coliform bacteria. (These are the guys you find in your poop.) A study based on statistical economics has gone a step further, correlating mandatory use of reusable bags with an increase in emergency room visits due to infections commonly produced by food poisoning, such as E. coli or Salmonella. Some store owners agree: a survey of Seattle grocers found that more than 30% believe that the city's new bag laws have increased sanitary problems. Why? Raw meat and dairy containers can leak, and 97% of people don't wash their reusable bags.
Customers now have to pay more to leave the store with the same amount of food and housewares. A home which previously used the disposable bags for storage, garbage or packing materials now has to buy them. This puts an economic burden not on the companies who produce and sell food, but on the consumers who buy it.
But grocery store owners are not off the hook, either. Some store owners in bag-ban cities believe that reusable bags increase their rates of theft.
Why has this well-intentioned idea gone awry?
Because there is a distinction between regulating a product and regulating human behavior. By placing standards on manufactured goods, the government can encourage innovation. Businesses can use engineering, technology and strategy to produce better products, which is their core mission. A ban on disposable bags, however, amounts to a burden mostly on consumers. You and I shouldn't have to rearrange our daily habits to accommodate pseudoscientific rules we find irritating. In fact, this type of micromanagement of our lives is probably why libertarianism is becoming more popular.
And just in case you're wondering, bag bans don't help the environment, either. As Todd Myers would say, bag bans are nothing more than a feel-good eco-fad.
