Why Go Plastic-Free?

What’s the issue with bags at the market?

The abundance of single-use plastic bags at farmers markets directly clashes with the values of sustainability and eco-consciousness embodied in farmers market culture. Plastic bags also take a considerable physical toll on the local environment by contributing to excess waste and damaging wildlife when they end up as litter. Eliminating single-use plastic bags at farmers markets is a critical first step in reducing this pollution at the source so that plastic never enters the environment in the first place.

Did you know?

Every year an estimated 300 million plastic bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean, many of which can be attributed to their widespread use in grocery stores and markets.⁵

Farmers markets should be part of the solution to this issue, not the problem.

Plastic bag reductions in Fairfax County, VA

Fairfax County adopted a $0.05 plastic bag fee in 2022. Since that time, the average number of plastic bags found at stream monitoring sites has decreased by 47%. The County also adopted a two-pronged Zero Waste Plan in 2021 that calls for the County to reduce its waste by 25% and to divert 90% of its waste away from landfills by 2030. We are making good progress, but need to step up efforts in order to achieve these goals by their deadline. There is still space to make meaningful impacts and accelerate the progress on Zero Waste.

The Fairfax County Plastic Bag Fee Fund collected approximately $2 million in its first year of operation–at a nickel a piece, that’s an astounding 40 million bags charged for! Curbing single-use plastic bag usage would considerably decrease waste generation and simultaneously lessen a significant source of plastic pollution in Fairfax County. However, $2 million dollars’ worth of plastic bags does not capture the total bag use in the County, as bags are still present at farmers markets. Under the local bag ordinance, farmers markets are not required to collect the $0.05 fee for bags and, unsurprisingly, enormous amounts of plastic bags continue to be used. 2023 estimates revealed that vendors gave out up to 20,000 bags each over the course of the Fairfax County market season. If the $0.05 fee was collected on these bags, that would sum to an estimated $1,000, per vendor per season. At 10-20+ vendors per market, that math quickly adds up! While we don’t necessarily advocate for vendors to start charging for bags, the economics present an interesting narrative: single-use plastic bags have a (large) hidden cost.

The costs of plastic bags

Every year Americans use more than 100 billion plastic bags. These bags are used for an average of 12 minutes before being discarded, but they will last 1,000 years in our environment.¹

Along with the destructive environmental impact of plastic bag pollution, there is a significant cost to the US and global economies. The World Wildlife Fund found that collecting, sorting, disposing, and recycling plastic waste costs an estimated $32 billion a year. This value does not include the $11 billion spent on plastic bag and litter clean-up efforts nationwide.² Clearly, the financial cost of single-use plastic bags is enormous.

Every reusable bag can offset approximately 500-1,000 single-use plastic bags per year.³ Making this switch is a simple yet powerful action that can produce a major impact. Reducing the use of plastic bags in the US will lessen both the environmental and monetary costs associated with their disposal and cleanup.