Trader Joes decided to tackle the plastic/paper bag recy­cling in a man­ner far more sen­si­tive to its cus­tomers –and far more likely to succeed–than our government.

While the Dis­trict Government’s goal is to increase its rev­enue, this regres­sive* “tax” does noth­ing to solve the under­ly­ing prob­lem of clean­ing up the Ana­cos­tia River, its stated pur­pose. Nor does it promise to increase the tax base suf­fi­ciently to off­set the gap in ser­vices fund­ing. Yet, our Trader Joes has taken this gov­ern­men­tal loser and trans­formed it into a win/win. You will not only not be charged five cents, when you bring a gro­cery bag to Trader Joes for reuse, you will also be cred­ited with 5 cents toward your gro­cery bill. Our City rejected this option, one that is work­ing well else­where in the coun­try. Thanks, Ron Cocome, FB res­i­dent and Pres. Emer­i­tus of FBA

* (It penal­izes fam­i­lies by charg­ing those who require more than they can carry to the store; and the Amer­i­can males who have not yet begun car­ry­ing purses.)