We all want to do our part to help save the environment, and cities have been getting involved in recent years by banning disposable bags. The most recent bag ban happened in Dallas where residents will be required to pay 5 cents per bag starting Jan. 1, 2015.

But how is this going to affect retailers and consumers? And is it legal for cities nationwide to ban bags?

The Dallas bag ban

The recent Dallas bag ban will require retailers to charge the fee to all customers who wish to use the disposable bags, both paper and plastic.

However, there are several exceptions, including laundry and dry cleaning bags, door hangers, packages of multiple bags used for garbage or pet waste, prescription bags and restaurant take-out food bags. The ban does actually ban disposable bags at all government facilities, events and properties.

Dallas retailers must register with the city of Dallas in order to sell the disposable bags, and they must list the charge on the receipt. There must also be bilingual signs displayed in the retail establishment regarding the bag ban. Violators could be fined up to $500.

The bag ban has caused some outrage among retailers nationwide, but the Dallas bag ban is especially concerning to retailers because of the manner of the vote. The idea of a bag ban in Dallas had been discussed for more than a year, but that was an outright ban.

All of a sudden, they changed the bag ban to charging consumers for the bags rather than outright banning them. This happened just days before the vote, giving retailers practically no time to offer input or voice their concerns.

Do the benefits outweigh the risks and problems?

Since Dallas is not the first city to impose any kind of a ban on disposable bags, there is information available as to how it affects retailers and how it actually affects the environment.

Many cities scattered across the U.S. have similar laws in place, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, coastal North Carolina, several Oregon cities and Washington, D.C.

There are some variations among the regulations. For example, in coastal North Carolina, the bag ban only applies to plastic bags, not paper, and only to retail establishments with more than 5,000 square feet of floor space. And, in Portland, Ore., durable plastic bags — at least four-thousandths of an inch thick with handles — will still be allowed.

Brownsville, one of the poorest cities in Texas, was the first to impose restrictions on plastic bags. The restrictions stated that retailers could not offer free plastic bags and could only offer reusable bags. However, the retailers could choose to continue offering plastic bags if they charged a fee of $1 per transaction and provide it to the city.

The fees not only paid for the expenses of the program, but have generated more than $1 million in profit. Because of the additional revenue, the city decided to keep the fees instead of pushing for an outright ban.

However, according to Ronnie Volkening, president and CEO of Texas Retailers Association, consequences do exist.

"Bag bans require retailers to acquire costlier, heavier and bulkier 'reusable' bags, endure consumer complaints for the imposition caused by the reduced level of customer service, and see their investment in recycling programs challenged," Volkening said. "In many cases they incur considerable cost in re-engineering their checkout area to accommodate the larger and bulkier bags."

Bag bans are also harmful to low-income consumers who then have to bear an additional cost, whether it be the fees for disposable bags or the purchase and maintenance fees for reusable bags. Many will in fact go to neighboring towns to shop to avoid the fees.

Are the environmental benefits real?

Plastic bags have always attracted the unwanted attention of environmental groups. The effect of plastic bags, they believe, is detrimental to the environment.

In the U.S. alone, it takes approximately 12 million barrels of oil to produce plastic bags. They are not biodegradable, some taking over 1,000 years to break down.

One major source of evidence for the benefits of bag bans come from Bangladesh. Two major floods devastated most of the country in 1988 and 1998, and one of the major culprits was the abundance of plastic bags clogging sewers and the drainage system.

Bangladesh became the first country to ban plastic bags nationwide in 2002, and it has shown significant results in reducing the amount of plastic bags littering the streets and drainage systems.

An example of environmental benefits comes from Austin, Texas, where a bag ban has been in place since March 2013. Aiden Cohen from Austin Resource Recovery said about 30 percent fewer bags are being placed in landfills, a significant impact.

However, studies have also shown that the effects of bag bans are minimal, if even present at all. The National Center for Policy Analysis conducted a study in December of whether or not bans of plastic grocery bags save cities money. The results?

"An examination of the bag bans and budgets for litter collection and waste disposal in San Francisco, San Jose and the City and County of Los Angeles, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; and Brownsville and Austin, Texas, shows no evidence of a reduction in costs attributable to reduced use of plastic bags."

And the bans are not comprehensive.

"They expressly exempt tons of plastic bags and films — dry cleaning bags, newspaper bags, QSR restaurant bags, etc. — as well not eliminating plastic bags that are omnipresent in the marketplace — bread bags, ice bags, shrink wrap, etc.," according to Volkening. The bans also reduce the amount of recycled material available for products, like fence posts and park benches.

Is anything being done to stop bag bans?

The Texas Retailers Association recently dropped a lawsuit against the city of Austin regarding the issue, but they are "now seeking an Attorney General Opinion as to whether an existing state statute preempts these bans by city ordinances," according to Volkening. The association is pressing to determine whether section 361.0961 of the Texas Health and Safety code prohibits municipalities from adopting ordinances that ban plastic bags.

If it is determined that the existing statute preempts the bans, it will have a significant impact on several cities in Texas and could also begin to impact cities in other U.S. states.

Bag bans are impacting cities nationwide, and the number of cities continues to climb. There are benefits to the bans as well as consequences. However, the bans are still so new that their lasting impact is still being studied.

Retailers in the cities with bag bans must adjust to these regulations in order to stay in business, even if it does mean spending more money. Is your city next?