We need a plastic bag tax in the USA, ASAP

May 11, 2008

From the NYTimes:

In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.

Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.

Gerry McCartney, 50, a data processor, has also switched to cloth. “The tax is not so much, but it completely changed a very bad habit,” he said. “Now you never see plastic.”

My god. What a great idea. The article mentions that some store owners, especially in larger cities like New York (where I reside) are adamantly against the tax, saying it would drive away customers. This argument doesn’t make much sense because if put into place, all store owners would be required to charge the tax, and they would not be allowed to pay the tax on behalf of the customer. And the tax wouldn’t make necessities like groceries and other items obsolete — people would still need to shop! Not only would the plastic consumption be drastically reduced, the revenue from the tax would be a nice bonus for the city. I can only see positive sides to this.

I believe most people think carrying cloth bags when shopping are for the nuttiest of tree huggers and environmentalists. I do want to change the world but I don’t think myself, as one person, can make much of a difference just from switching from plastic to cloth. But if there was a tax, and a good ad campaign? We could follow in Ireland’s footsteps.

I’m feeling very positive about this idea so I went ahead and emailed New York’s governor and mayor about it, linking them to the article and highlighting the most important parts of the tax and mentioning the extra money it would provide for the state’s budget. Please do it for your state or country as well — as a collective, we have a voice.

Posted in wasted resources