New York City now requires stores that use plastic bags to recycle them, but Ireland has seen a much better success in reducing plastic bag use with a different approach. Five years ago, Ireland imposed a 33 cent a bag tax on consumers when ever they got a plastic bag from a store. The tax also forbid stores from paying the tax on behalf of the shopper. The result, a 94 percent drop in plastic bag use.
Initially, store owners were against this tax, saying shoppers would rebel, but the outcome was much more favorable. Cloth shopping bags became the rag, and using plastic bags became socially unexceptable. Several other countries are banning plastic bags, or requiring stores to charge for their use.
In the US, some citys have taken the initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags, like San Francisco's outright ban. But the force of change here, is by the store. Whole Foods is eliminating their use, and other local stores, like Moscow Idaho's
CO-OP, encourages cloth bags with rewarding customers with 10 cents off when they use them.