Almost two months have passed since the Montgomery County Council implemented a five cent tax on plastic and paper bags.

Retail stores have noticed various customer responses to this tax.

“About 80 percent of customers are already bringing in their own reusable bags,” Giant customer service manager Lydia Parham said.

Giant has been encouraging customers to bring in their own reusable bags by giving them five cents off for each reusable bag they bring.

“I think that five cents is an incentive for customers to bring in their own bags because customers would much rather get five cents instead of pay five cents,” Parham said.

While the bag tax is motivating some customers to bring in their own reusable bags, others are annoyed by this new law.

“A lot of our customers are frustrated with more and more taxes,” said Max Devens, Director of Operations of River Falls Market. “They are frustrated that they have to get used to a new routine.”

When customers refuse to pay five cents for bags and have not brought in their own reusable bags, they walk out of the store carrying items in their arms. This might look suspicious, which raises concerns of shoplifting.

“We have salespeople who are really helpful with customers and walk customers out,” Nordstrom store manager Stephany Pierce said. “They make sure their purchases are held in a responsible way.”

Nordstrom customers are never automatically charged five cents for bags. Instead, salespeople ask customers if they wish to purchase a bag for five cents.

“The five cent bag fee has caused me to think about the environmental effects,” senior Ashley Sabet said. “I think that the initiative will have a very good, radical impact on the environment.”

According to senior Environmental club president Bofan Wu, the policy is reasonable because it forces people to be more eco-friendly by bringing their own reusable bags. Wu also believes that five cents is not that hefty of a price to pay for a few bags.

Others view the bag tax as an unfair economic burden.

“I bring my own bags to avoid the ridiculous bag fee because the bags [stores provide] are not even of good quality, so it makes no sense to charge a fee for them,” Sabet said. “I bring in my own bags because I disagree with the concept of taxing the middle class. This bag fee dramatically and primarily affects the middle class, which already carries the majority of weight in federal taxes. It seems unethical to use them as a source of income for the state.”