Ikea is set to be the first retail store in the United States that charges U.S. customers for each disposable plastic shopping bag used instead of providing them free with purchases. Keeping in line with its projected image of being a socially responsible company, Ikea's decision to charge 5 cents per bag is a direct response to the massive amount of waste produced by plastic bags in the United States. An estimated 100 billion of these bags are thrown away every year by U.S. consumers, which causes environmental problems ranging from animal strangulation to waterway blockage. And it can take polyethylene bags 1,000 years to decompose, creating significant landfill problems. Ikea started charging its UK customers for plastic bags in June, and has since reduced their bag consumption by 95 percent.

Governments have also come on board in the effort to restrict and ultimately abolish the use of plastic bags. South Australia intends to completely ban single-use plastic bags by the end of 2008. Rwanda and Bangladesh have already done so. Taiwain has reduced plastic bag consumption by 80 percent since stores started charging for them, and Ireland has reduced consumption by 90 percent through taxing bag use. Not only do these decisions reduce the costs of waste management, but taxing plastic bag consumption can be highly profitable—Ireland has managed to raise 75 million euros since it introduced its bag tax in 2002. Fortunately for the environment, this should provide a pretty compelling incentive for other countries to do the same.