As cost of grocery bags rises to 12 cents, WSU study finds bag fee is creating more plastic waste even as number of bags plummets

When getting her groceries, Lisa Villella almost always forgets her reusable bags at home.

“I think this is the only time I’ve ever remembered to bring one,” she said coming out of Grocery Outlet in downtown Spokane earlier this month. “It’s really bad. I have got bags in bags in bags. I’ve got them all hung up on my kitchen wall.”

Even though she brought one reusable bag, Villella still had to buy two new plastic bags because her groceries did not fit in the one she brought.

A recent Washington State University study suggests Villella may not be alone. While the cost of a reusable plastic bag will increase by 4 cents in the new year, the study calls into question the effectiveness of a law aimed at reducing waste from single-use bags.

The findings, however, received pushback from stat