nonlinear

After purchasing one item at the grocery store tonight — a pre-mixed salad bag — the cashier plopped it into a plastic bag before I could stop her. My plastic bag needed a bag.

When I told her I didn’t need the bag, she said “fine,” and began to throw the blue sack away. Being a complete weirdo, I stopped her and offered to take the bag to recycle it. Rolling her eyes, I got the disposable grub-bag and the pleasure of her smacking her gum at me extra loud.

The whole process reminded me of Ireland’s PlasTax, a tariff on free store plastic bags that dramatically reduced their use on the emerald isle.

Might such a tax herald a new type of sin tax in the U.S.?

For example, Cuyahoga County is currently considering Issue 18, legislation to support the fine arts by taxing cigarettes. Classic sin tax mentality in action here: Get money from a marginalized minority without a voice (smokers) to fund the wants of an even smaller, more well-off group with a voice (art groups, pro-sports teams, etc.).

Wouldn’t a better “sin tax” touch more people and create a positive climate of change — in the case of a “bag tax” by reducing pollution and raising environmental awareness — all without singling out a small group?

Eliminating the silly waste of disposable plastic bags with a small fee makes perfect sense, and would give politicians easy money (at least initially) they can dole out to environmental causes (Subsidizing landfill costs, encouraging more recycling, creating green power incubators) and still have enough to support fine arts or any other number of constituencies.

Sadly, the PlasTax idea is not a cureall. Most stores in Ireland are still stocked with plastic bags, but you have to buy them.

Even without incentive to reuse bags, most people I know still do find new uses for them — holding soda cans to recycle them, as trash bags, picking up dog poop, etc. A PlasTax might get more of us to rethink using disposable bags at all.

Some more PlasTax links:

Draft letter to council, Kicking the plastic bag habit, Attention Shoppers: Another Tax Grab is on its Way!

Ways to recycle plastic grocery bags

Categorized as environment