I overhead one of the women tell a funny story of offering up a bag to a customer, noting that they would have to pay for the bag. The customer was fine with this.
"How much does it cost?" the customer queried.
"Ten cents," the clerk responded.
The customer reached in her purse for a dime.
"Well, it's actually 11 cents," responded the clerk.
If you buy a bag, which the city ordinance requires if you did not bring your own bag but would like the store to provide you with one, you will have to pay $0.11 for it. The bag costs $0.10, but don't forget the tax! And, the store is not allowed to have the bag cost $0.09 so that with tax it will cost $0.10.
But how is the ban working? I wanted to know. By their unofficial estimates, and they were just that, nothing more than back-of-the-envelope guesstimates, the bag ban may have already reduced bag consumption by 50 percent!
If that number is even vaguely correct, then this policy, so many years in the making, is a success. The goal is reduction of plastic bags, the vehicle is an added fee as disincentive to waste, and the resulting human behavior is following suit.
It's textbook Econ 101, with a whole lot of other stuff thrown in for good measure. Regardless, the result is a good one.