Starting This Week, Oregon Grocery Shoppers Will Have to Pay 5 Cents For Paper Bags

Starting Jan. 1, Oregonians will no longer be able to get plastic bags at the grocery store.

Reusable bags from Trader Joe's. (Paul Irish / Flickr)
By Elise Herron

Starting Jan. 1, Oregonians will no longer be able to get plastic bags at the grocery store. That's thanks to a law the Oregon Legislature passed in June.

Individual towns, such as Portland, Eugene and Corvallis, have already passed bans on plastic bags. But this legislation makes Oregon the fourth U.S. state to enact a prohibition on plastic bags.

Portlanders haven't seen plastic bags in the grocery store since 2011. But the new statewide policy will mean a change in this city.

The new law will also require shoppers who don't bring their own bags to the grocery store to pay 5 cents per each paper or reusable bag provided, as The Oregonian reminded its readers last week. Think of that as a tax on paper bag use, intended to motivate shoppers to bring their own bag.

However, the rule doesn't apply to plastic produce bags or paper bags used by restaurants.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.