Recently, a TikTok video went viral in which a woman complained about a 10 cent bag fee on her Chick-fil-A order. She was outraged and threatened Chick-fil-a: “Count your days.”

However, it wasn’t Chick-fil-a’s fault that she had to pay the extra for the bag, it’s a law in her city. It went into effect last January, but I assume this was the first time she noticed it.

Here in Texas, some businesses and some cities like Dallas are experimenting with bag fees in the hopes that consumers will choose reusable bags.

Single-use bags fill up landfills and break down into microplastics that contaminate our food supply. However, they are convenient and many of us find ways to reuse them at least once (I use them to clean out the cat litter box).

In a capitalist world, consumers dictate business policy, and in a democracy, so do voters. I asked several of my fellow Texans what they thought about bag fees.

I even went a step further and asked about another major source of single-use waste: to-go containers.

Baggage fees were controversial. About half of the people I asked were strongly against it, the other half were in favor of it.

They should put that in their budget. So, no. I don’t agree with that. It’s their responsibility to provide those things, so I shouldn’t have to pay for them.

We should be using the reusable ones anyway. They literally cost a dollar. Nowhere does it say that it is the responsibility of said store or restaurant to provide these to the customer. If you charge for them, hopefully more people will use the reusable ones if it is on their wallet.

I actually find it rude.

I agree! Especially if the items are biodegradable… they end up in landfill.

We need to change our habits regarding bags. A small fee could be the reason we need to change. I keep reusable bags in my car and that helps me remember. If I had to remember to do it from home, I would be hopeless.

There was less controversy with the to-go containers, as most people did not agree to pay for them at all.

I have never been to a restaurant that has charged for a take out container and I would not pay that, but raise a pile of cain and never go back. What if I ordered take out AND then they told me there was a container fee? I would just leave and not pay any of it.

In fact, you are paying for bags and to-go containers because they are included in the business’s operating costs. However, here in Texas, we find it very rude to have them on our receipt.