I draw cartoons for The Los Angeles Times about issues related to California and the Southland (metro Los Angeles).

This week:

On New Year’s Day, Los Angeles became the biggest city in the United States to ban plastic bags.

Mayhem was anticipated. OK, not mayhem. Just extreme agitas. “If they don’t give me a bag, what am I going to do?” the Times quoted an “incredulous” William Macary at a Wal-Mart back in June. “If I pay money, I want a bag.”

I feel him. If I pay money, I want a pony. And a car. And those $350 Italian shirts I lust for when I go to Vegas.

Believe it or not, plastic bags were originally introduced as the eco-friendly alternative to paper bags. No more chopping trees, etc. Now they’re widely viewed as a scourge.

But even treehuggers hate inconvenience. I caught a sneak preview to how some entitled Angeleno consumers might greet a plastic-free 2014 last year, when I visited Washington. The nation’s capital requires merchants to charge shoppers five cents per plastic bag.

“Want a bag? It’s a nickel,” the guy at the sandwich shop told me. It’s a nominal fee, but I said no. I’m typical. Most Washingtonians prefer to bring their own bag or do without. The bag fee is a big success, having greatly reduced litter in the D.C. area.

Why not cough up the nickel? It’s inconsequential.

It’s not the disposability factor. You can use plastic bags for your trash. To pick up after your dog. Whatever. Anyway, much of the stuff you carry in plastic bags is essentially disposable too. Groceries don’t last forever.

Washington’s fee makes people realize that plastic bags are worth nothing. And no one wants to pay something for nothing. It may be hard to believe, but Washington’s experience is clear: in a few short months, we’re going to wonder why we ever wanted plastic bags in the first place.

I like Los Angeles’ approach better. There’s nothing grosser than plastic bags hanging from tree branches, blowing in the breeze. Why tolerate even one? An outright ban is better. But we’re missing out on D.C.’s game-theory economic experiment.

Or maybe not.

We’ll have the option of paying ten cents for a paper bag that isn’t as hard on the environment. Will we? I’m betting the answer is no.