Bag Tax
The cashier at Stuff Mart was all in an uproar over my reusable bags the last time I stopped in for a cart full of junk.
"Good thang you brought deez! Purty soon yous gonna have to pay a fine justa use da plastic bags!"
Lisa, you are a no-good, terrible, horrible person for stereotyping people that way!
When I want information? I go straight to the source. The soundest and classiest source, to boot. But she was right! Our city is considering a 20-cent per plastic bag tax to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. San Francisco was the first; many cities in California and Seattle are following closely behind.
Now I may be Miss Green Jeans and all, but the systematic side of my brain thinks "Wow, this is going to be a mess." All I can picture are 378 gazillion shapes and sizes of reusable bags, and filthy ones at that.
I feel for the scene at the checkout. Just when we got the system down to "scan--dump, scan--dump, scan--dump," we have to throw a huge kink in the works. It's sure to become A Whole Bunch Of Fiddling With Someone Else's Bag That Won't Sit Just Right In The Blasted Corrals.
I wonder what size of fee it would take to motivate shoppers to choose reusable bags? I know from personal experience that it's one thing to have the bags on hand--and it's another to remember to take them in the store.
What do you think? 20 cents per bag? 25? Less? More? What do you think will come of all of this?
"Good thang you brought deez! Purty soon yous gonna have to pay a fine justa use da plastic bags!"
When I want information? I go straight to the source. The soundest and classiest source, to boot. But she was right! Our city is considering a 20-cent per plastic bag tax to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. San Francisco was the first; many cities in California and Seattle are following closely behind.
Now I may be Miss Green Jeans and all, but the systematic side of my brain thinks "Wow, this is going to be a mess." All I can picture are 378 gazillion shapes and sizes of reusable bags, and filthy ones at that.
I feel for the scene at the checkout. Just when we got the system down to "scan--dump, scan--dump, scan--dump," we have to throw a huge kink in the works. It's sure to become A Whole Bunch Of Fiddling With Someone Else's Bag That Won't Sit Just Right In The Blasted Corrals.
I wonder what size of fee it would take to motivate shoppers to choose reusable bags? I know from personal experience that it's one thing to have the bags on hand--and it's another to remember to take them in the store.
What do you think? 20 cents per bag? 25? Less? More? What do you think will come of all of this?
9 comments:
Don't think there should be a tax at all. It's too bad that the world is getting to where people feel like they have to tax everything in order for society to act responsibly.
Do you know that France is considering a sweet tax? (I forget what the official term is) They want to tax everything that is "non essential" like candy, pastries and alcohol. They are trying to fight obesity by taxing it all. I think it's like a 25% tax. Ridiculous.
The fees have worked in other countries. Ireland imposed a plastic bag fee a while back, and has almost eliminated the use. A couple of 10 cents here and there and you'll remember to bring your reusable bags.
Don't think of it as a "tax." Taxes are unavoidable. Think of it as a "discouragement."
Ok... Renee Pitman just recently gave me your blog address and I have been following you and your family's antics for the last several weeks. Thank you for the many LAUGH OUT LOUD moments! It makes me so sad that I didn't get to know you before you left. I'm sure we would have been great friends!
Now, on the re-usable bags thing... I can relate to your throwing a wrench into Stuff Mart's carefully plotted system. Recently, I purchased a gazillion items -- mostly groceries -- at our Stuff Mart, and when I told them I didn't want bags (I, of course, left my re-usable bags at home as well), you would have thought I grew a second head right there on the spot. "You don't want BAGS?!" Nope... "You just want to put your things back in the CART?!" Yep. And then she proceeded to put my things into bags anyway, out of (mindless?) habit. So I just lifted my things back out of the plastic bags and dropped them into the cart.
THEN, the cashier had to call in a manager who had to give me an official "OK" to walk out of the store without bagged merchandise. Geesh!
Well places like Ikea are already charging for bags. It only took a couple lapses of forgetfulness for me to remember my own bag next time. Now it is just sort of second nature. I have several that fold in in itself that I can just keep in my purse. Although I find that I do get some eye rolling in places like Oregon city and Milwaukie that just seem to be annoyed at the inconvenience. Anywhere else in the city though it seems to be a pretty standard thing.
Having worked retail, my smypathies to the clerks. Having a standardized size and system (bags and bag holders) really streamlines the whole deal.
It's going to end up costing more for the consumer, above and beyond the 20c 'tax', because it will just plain take longer to set up the customer's bags.
And - yuck - not everyone is a 'cleanie'.
We tend to re-use our plastic grocery sacks (line the garbage cans) or bring them back to the grocery store to recycle.
I know you will find this hard to believe, but we ACTUALLY have been looking at the bags to "tote" stuff home in - I guess even the "oldies" can learn a thing or two. Now, what will I use when I want to tote something?????? I will probably ponder that for some time.
It would be interesting if Wal-Mart wanted to wield its strength and started charging a small amount--maybe 5 cents per bag--instead of waiting for the government step in.
Some people would be willing to pay it every time, I presume. Maybe it would need to be steeper to dissuade the use of the plastic bags?
And maybe, as you pointed out, it would become a bagging nightmare.
There's a store in Belgium called Colyrut (Coylrut? Can't remember the spelling) that doesn't offer any bags of any kind (and never did). When they first opened, people didn't know that and had to leave with their arms full of food or go get a box from their trunk or something.
Eventually, people adjusted and started putting crates and bags in their cars in case they would run past Colyrut on their way home. People wanted that store's discount prices, so when the store refused to give them anything to carry, people eventually brought what they needed.
Our kids' kids may never know the difference. Their "normal" may be to bring one's own shopping bag(s) everywhere. They'll say, "You mean, stores used to put your stuff in plastic bags? They'd just *give* those to you? That's soooo weird."
In a way I think it is a good idea. It would definitely make me get some reusable bags. But on the other hand I think that these days the government is in our business a little bit to much and this would just be another decision that would be forced on us. People need to be aware what plastic and other products do to the environment, but forcing the decision on them is not the answer. Forcing the issue doesn't change how the person feels about what they are doing.
I would look at it as a "user's fee" instead of a tax. I think 10c is reasonable, although 25c definitely will make people think twice.
I LOVE my reusable bags! I know when they get too "yucky" I'll buy more. But I don't think that will be for a long time.
Occassionally I do get the plastic bags, so I can clean the cat box, etc.
Post a Comment