Washington Plastic Bag Ban
What Does Washington’s Bag Ban Mean for Your Business and Customers?
After several delays, a single-use plastic bag ban will go into action in Washington on October 1, 2021. This ban has been a long time coming and while it’s certainly a big deal for environmental reasons, it also signals a big change for businesses and customers. It’s always exciting to see a bag ban go into action and we’ve been following this journey since the beginning on our plastic bag ban map (link at the top of this page).
We break down what led us to this measure and what your business needs to know when it comes to Washington’s disposable plastic bag ban.
Evergreen State Going Green
Plastic bag bans are not new to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle was one of the first cities in the U.S. to implement a disposable plastic bag ban back in the summer of 2012. Efforts to pass a state-wide ban have been underway for just as long. In 2011 two bills calling to ban single-use plastic bags in the state failed to pass. When a similar measure was reintroduced in 2012, it failed to gain the necessary support.
Despite these setbacks, proponents of the state-wide ban continued towards their goal, and by April 2020 a new bill passed in both the House and the Senate. This law bans single-use plastic bags in Washington. The bag ban prevents restaurants, retail, small vendors, and grocery stores from distributing single-use plastic bags and imposes an 8-cent fee on paper bags. Businesses keep the revenue generated by the fee.
The initial start date for Washington’s plastic bag ban was January 1, 2021. That date was quickly pushed back to January 30 and eventually delayed until October 1, 2021.
Solving the Plastic Problem
Plastic is bad for the planet and disposable plastic bags harm the environment. These bags are made from non-renewable resources and have low recycling rates. When the bags have fulfilled their purpose they tend to end up in landfills or as litter and those resources are then lost to the manufacturing industry.
“Single-use plastic bags are not easily recyclable, which makes managing them at the end of their lives almost impossible,” explained the manager of Ecology’s Solid Waste Management Program, Laurie Davies. “Reducing their use will protect our rivers and streams, and help our recycling system run more efficiently.”
How to Help Your Customers
With plastic bags no longer available, shoppers need reusable shopping bags. Your business can help fulfill this need by creating custom reusable bags. Once customized with your branding information, these bags will represent and promote your business while making it easy for your customers to follow the new ban.
Designing your custom reusable bag may seem like a big task, but we can assist you in easily creating your one-of-a-kind custom bag. We break things down into a simple step-by-step process so all you need to do is answer some easy questions and then we can get you a quote.
We’re Here to Help
We understand that you’re busy, so we make it easy to design your own custom reusable shopping bags. We also offer two ways to order. Select from our in-stock selection if you need a small quantity or if you need your bags rather quickly. Our custom and bulk orders provide a much greater level of customization while also supporting large wholesale orders.
Whatever help you need along the way, we’re here for you. Call us at 866-222-0949 for help choosing the right reusable shopping bag, customizing the look, or to request a quote.
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