After Banning Straws, California Now Looks Towards Paper Receipts

You remember when California went utterly overboard in banning straws, right? It was supposedly for ecological reasons, and, there’s some validity there with plastic pollution, but they made the case of ‘climate change’ even stronger. Now we get

California Democrats made plastic straws hard to get. Are paper receipts next?

We’ve all been there. We go to a grocery store or pharmacy, buy an item and walk away with a receipt as long as the Nile River.

One California lawmaker says enough is enough.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, unveiled a plan on Tuesday to take the state off of printed receipts. Under Assembly Bill 161, businesses would have to give customers electronic receipts if they don’t ask for physical copies.

“Most people assume that all these receipts can be recyclable. Guess what? They can’t,” Ting said. “It’s common-sense legislation. We think it’s a minimal cost, and it’s really putting the power back in the consumers by saying, ‘Hey, if you want the paper, yeah, you can ask for it, but why force you to take the paper?’”

Many of the bill’s provisions match those of a new law requiring customers to ask for plastic straws if they want one. Businesses that don’t comply with the law would receive two warnings before being fined $25 for each subsequent violation. The penalties would stop once a business hits $300 in a given year.

And, oh, yes, it is about ‘climate change’

No more paper receipts! 10 million 🌲, 21 billion gallons of 🌊 & 12 billion pounds of carbon emissions to make receipts in the US every year. I introduced #AB161 today to help CA #SkipTheSlip by making e-receipts the default practice by 2022; paper only upon request. pic.twitter.com/FFDQZICqcY

— Phil Ting (@PhilTing) January 8, 2019

Pamela Williams, acting president of the California Retailers Association, said it’s too soon for the group to take a position on the bill. She wonders how the proposal would affect smaller to medium-sized retailers who can’t afford to invest in software that would offer e-receipts.

And therein lies the issue. Not everyone is set up to do this, and it would cost money. Many people want a paper receipt right there in order to make sure it is correct at that time. You won’t look at the emailed receipt immediately. Certain places, like Best Buy, I always get emailed receipt. No problem there. Supermarket? I want the paper. Sometimes a product gets double scanned (I blame myself) and do not catch it till after I paid. Plus, many places want to see a receipt on the way out, like Walmart and Costco.

Yes, some receipts are ridiculously long. Some give them coupons. Some are just wastes. Do we really need an emailed receipt for minor transactions? Do we need to give our email to freaking everyone, now? One big reason many retailers ask if you want it emailed or paper is to get your email so they can market to you.

What about at restaurants? Don’t you have to see the bill first? What would this cost them and so many other businesses? Doesn’t matter, Phil has an Idea, and, being California, it will probably pass.