Plastic Bag Tax

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/20...big-result

Quote : Washington D.C.'s five-cent tax on plastic shopping bags has cut their use by more than half, the WSJ reports this morning. Last year, D.C. shoppers used about 270 million disposable bags. Since the tax went into effect this year, stores are giving out about 60 percent fewer bags, surveys suggest. California lawmakers recently voted down a proposal to ban the bags statewide. The American Chemistry Council, which represents some big plastic-bag manufacturers, fought the bill, arguing in part that it would create bureaucratic expenses and hurt jobs.

Not an issue of huge importance, I know. But I was wondering what you all think of it and whether you would want a similar tax in your own community?

I don't believe in taxes as a way to socially engineer a populace. Plastic bags are used because they are quick, cheap, and relatively strong. So they end up polluting roadways, etc - whose fault is that again? Is it the grocery store's? The manufacturer's?

Businesses like bans because:
- they no longer have to purchase bags to hand out to customers "for free" (yes the cost is built into product prices but do you think they will lower their prices once they no longer have to purchase bags?)
- they get to sell the "fancy" reusable bags for $1, generating revenue

Quote from Dr. J : I don't believe in taxes as a way to socially engineer a populace. Plastic bags are used because they are quick, cheap, and relatively strong. So they end up polluting roadways, etc - whose fault is that again? Is it the grocery store's? The manufacturer's?

You would prefer to not have a bag tax and continue to pay more in other taxes to clean up pollution from plastic bags?

Quote from Epiphyte : You would prefer to not have a bag tax and continue to pay more in other taxes to clean up pollution from plastic bags?

You act as though the people who are picking up plastic bags are only picking up plastic bags. If anyone's getting paid to pick up trash on the side of the road, you can bet a reduction in the number of plastic bags polluting the roadside will not reduce the fee.

Since there was no "HELL NO!" option I settled for no.

Nobody's stopping you from bringing your own bags back to the store. This amounts to a deposit, not a tax. It's meant to encourage re-use. I have no problem with this.

Personally, I never throw those bags away without using them. I use them in all my wastebaskets at home and throw them away with trash. A small surcharge still makes it worth it, because I'd have to pay for plastic bags to line my wastebaskets with anyway.

Quote from Mixels : You act as though the people who are picking up plastic bags are only picking up plastic bags. If anyone's getting paid to pick up trash on the side of the road, you can bet a reduction in the number of plastic bags polluting the roadside will not reduce the fee.

I actually don't think that makes much of a difference. More plastic bag pollution means that the road/river will need to be cleaned more frequently/thoroughly, just as any other increase in most any other trash would.

Also, one thing I haven't mentioned is that the money from the bag tax in DC is going towards cleaning up the Anacostia River.

I don't understand how plastic bags pollute roadways. When you take your groceries home and have like 10 bags, do you just throw them out your window? I think most people throw them in the garbage, which then goes out in a larger bag. If they end up strewn about the roads, doesn't that mean all the garbage is? Would removing the plastic bags from all the other garbage help? Maybe plastic bags from like corner shops and delis end up polluting the place, but you're not gonna get shops to charge a 'tax' or deposit on that. This is only going to be about supermarkets and such.

I know in Toronto the program isn't about trash at all, it's about reuse and conservation. When you go to the register, they ask you a) if you brought your own bags, and b) how many bags you'd like to buy. So if you typically buy 5 things and pack them into 3 brand new bags and double them, you might think twice. You'd either bring your own bags or you'd find a way to make 1 or 2 bags work for your 5 items.

Quote from shhaggy : I don't understand how plastic bags pollute roadways. When you take your groceries home and have like 10 bags, do you just throw them out your window? I think most people throw them in the garbage, which then goes out in a larger bag. If they end up strewn about the roads, doesn't that mean all the garbage is? Would removing the plastic bags from all the other garbage help? Maybe plastic bags from like corner shops and delis end up polluting the place, but you're not gonna get shops to charge a 'tax' or deposit on that. This is only going to be about supermarkets and such.

In DC the bag tax does apply to corner shops and delis.

Quote : As of January 1, 2010, all businesses that sell food or alcohol in the District of Columbia are required to charge five cents ($0.05) for each disposable paper or plastic bag sold at the register.

I think a better solution would be to legalize hemp, and make shopping bags out of hemp paper. Hemp paper is more durable, and more renewable than paper produced from wood pulp.

Taxing people out of actions is the wrong way to go... Offering better solutions is the right one.

Quote from Epiphyte : In DC the bag tax does apply to corner shops and delis.

Is it enforced though? Do they charge you that in practice? Most smaller shops I go to don't even bother charging sales tax or bottle deposits. I don't know how they reconcile their books. I mean, the cost of anything they sell is inflated given that their convenience stores, so maybe they include the price of things in there, but if their 20 oz Coke costs $1.50, you pay $1.50. If your turkey sandwich costs $4, you pay $4.

Quote from JackHandey : I think a better solution would be to legalize hemp, and make shopping bags out of hemp paper. Hemp paper is more durable, and more renewable than paper produced from wood pulp. Taxing people out of actions is the wrong way to go... Offering better solutions is the right one.

I think prohibitive taxing is the wrong way to go, clearly plastic bags should not cost $5 or anything like that. But a small monetary incentive to promote a given behavior is not the wrong way to go. It's akin to those little machine that make you put a quarter in before you can get your shopping cart, and then returning it when you put it back in the shed instead of leaving it in the parking lot. I still submit that because the bags are reusable and not a sunk cost, this is not a 'tax'. It's just asking that you reuse the bags. The solution is not to stop using the bags but rather to use them until their useful life is finished.

Quote from shhaggy : Is it enforced though? Do they charge you that in practice? Most smaller shops I go to don't even bother charging sales tax or bottle deposits. I don't know how they reconcile their books. I mean, the cost of anything they sell is inflated given that their convenience stores, so maybe they include the price of things in there, but if their 20 oz Coke costs $1.50, you pay $1.50. If your turkey sandwich costs $4, you pay $4.

In my experience, it is actually enforced. But, that's just my experience.

Quote from Epiphyte : I actually don't think that makes much of a difference. More plastic bag pollution means that the road/river will need to be cleaned more frequently/thoroughly, just as any other increase in most any other trash would. Also, one thing I haven't mentioned is that the money from the bag tax in DC is going towards cleaning up the Anacostia River.

I doubt that's necessarily true. The city probably maintains a regular cleaning schedule regardless of the current level of pollution. Of course this would change if the amount of pollution increased or decreased by a huge amount for a long period of time, but I don't think a small tax on plastic bags would make that significant of a difference. The tax would still generate a bit of revenue, of course; I just don't think it would reduce cleanup costs.