by Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger on March 31st, 2009

Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger

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Do you think a 5 cent tax on grocery bags is a good idea or just another way to tax consumers?

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  • by Phillis - Zacks little sister on March 31st, 2009

    Phillis - Zacks little sister

    It's better than some alternatives. I'd rather them tax something with a tiny price tag than raise speeding tickets to a $1,000.00 like Atlanta just did. I don't think grocery bags are going to generate an annually expected $38 MILLION dollars :(

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  • by chiism1 is gone 4 good on March 31st, 2009

    chiism1 is gone 4 good

    I'll just bring my own cloth bags, I hated paper bags sometimes, they busted alot on me

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  • by katydid15 on March 31st, 2009

    katydid15

    If the idea is to get people to not use plastic grocery bags, then 5 cents is not nearly enough. People will easily fork over another 30-50 cents for the convenience of the bags. But, if the stores charged like $1.00 per bag, it might get people to change their ways.

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  • by Eileen on March 31st, 2009

    Eileen

    I think it is down right stupid.........The state of Washington is trying to do something simular with charging people for the use of plastic and paper bags, of course that state says its going "green" I more ways then one it is I suppose!

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  • by RosieGHM Jetpacker on March 31st, 2009

    RosieGHM Jetpacker

    Recyling and conserving is a good idea. When something hits our pocketbooks we're more apt to pay attention. The CRV's we pay on sodas, for example... I doubt that people would recycle as much if they didn't pay in advance and want their money back! :)

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  • Oh, for God's sake...enough already. If you want to charge for bags, charge for bags. Keep the dang government taxes away. What possible reason should they get to make money on something a store gives away for free, but has to pay for themselves?

    It sounds like another ploy for the government to make a few more bucks at the expense of food shoppers this time.

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  • by Account Closed on March 31st, 2009

    Account Closed

    I think we are taxed enough and people should join together and demand change that is going to honestly help and not throw the burden on the people.

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  • by sidewalkchalk on March 31st, 2009

    sidewalkchalk

    OMG! I have officially heard it all! Tax on bags? Unreal.

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  • by gracescotland on March 31st, 2009

    gracescotland

    It's certainly effective at reducing the number of bags used. I lived in the netherlands where my local supermarket charged 20 cents for a bag. I spent about sixty cents over the course of a year but I bitched and complained on a regular basis.

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  • by ThatchickTandrax on March 31st, 2009

    ThatchickTandrax

    i dont think its a very idea at all.
    we already have enough money issues.

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  • by miss skellington in mushroom land on March 31st, 2009

    miss skellington in mushroom land

    i think that they will stop at nothing to extort more money out of people but atleast this time its for a good cause. just say no to plastic bags...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxX1g9A2OM&feature=related

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  • by moose on March 31st, 2009

    moose

    while it is a posotive it will most likely only hurt the poor making it a bad tax move but on the other side a good enviromental move

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  • by StarFish on March 31st, 2009

    StarFish

    another way to tax consumers of course. We need to start doing without the plastic bags and adopt the practice of a resusable sack :)

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  • by Jim in a Nautilus COAT on March 31st, 2009

    Jim in a Nautilus COAT

    It costs cities plenty to build and maintain landfills for millions of plastic shopping bags. This cost has to be paid somehow by taxpayers. I think directly taxing the bags is fair, as it leaves the choice of paying up to each shopper. You can bring your own box, cloth shopping bag or back pack and avoid paying the cost or cluttering the landfill. Or you can ignore the environment and pay for the luxury.

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  • by JILL on March 31st, 2009

    JILL

    I live in The Netherlands and you don't get grocery bags here like you do in the U.S. you have to bring your own or buy them from the store

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  • by john pennington on March 31st, 2009

    john pennington

    At Aldi's, they already charge 25 cents a bag.

    This is not the government, it's Aldi's making this move.

    What would the 5 cent bag tax be used for?

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  • by crazystudent on March 31st, 2009

    crazystudent

    in ireland we have a 15 cent tax on bags. its been here a few years now and the drop in the use of plastic bags is unreal! we have re usable bags which really make much more sense.
    it just changes people attitudes for the better and for the ppl that cant be bothered to change it makes a bit of money for the government

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  • by Ditto on March 31st, 2009

    Ditto

    A 5 cent tax per bag woun't change how I shop. There are two questions I'd have about this...

    1. The government is extremely wasteful. It tells you a tax is for one thing then wastes it on some other pet project. Will the proceeds be used specifically to counter pollution?

    2. Everything costs money. There will be costs associated with collecting and processing these taxes. Will it cost more to run the system than the procedes from the taxes collected?

    Personally I think they just want more money to waste.

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  • by Peetee on March 31st, 2009

    Peetee

    Just another tax. If ALL the money raised is used to develop a better alternative then it could be a good idea. But that won't happen. It's just another money raiser. It's easier to raise money when you make people feel guilty about something, and that is all it is - a guilt trip used to "justify" stealing more of your money. Notice how many "solutions" involve removing more money from your pocket?

    I've got a better idea. All the money raised from such a tax (and any other environmental tax) should be given to ME!!! You know damn well that the government isn't going to do anything decent with that money. But I'd happily quit my job and go to uni and spend the rest of my life studying alternative energy sources (amongst other things) if I could. Sure, I might just blow the money on partying and women, but who says that ain't where the money will go anyway? I'm not interested in drinking or drugs, so that limits the amount of money I'll waste on absolute crap and believe me, sooner or later I'll get bored and I will go to uni and I will study because that is what I like doing! It'll be so much more motivating if I have a few bucks with which to build some experiments, rather than wait for a turn on uni-provided gear.

    Coming to think of it, you wouldn't even need to risk me blowing all that money on partying. Chuck it in a non-profit trust, chuck me on a salary, and just give me access to the remainder for building experiments and the like when I need it. And I'd probably only need to charge you a one cent tax, not a five cent tax! What have you got to lose?

    :)

    Disclaimer: In a scenario as described above, my first priority would be to find an alternative to petrol (or a viable way of creating petrol through solar power, there's also a few other similar avenues I'd like to study ...). Finding an alternative to plastic bags is pretty low on my list of things-to-discover but I'll look into it eventually! (Or maybe we can pass that task to someone more interested in that area while I concentrate on fuel, or maybe I'll work out how to extract fuel from plastic bags ... no shortage of ideas here - you KNOW I'm the man for the job!!!)

    :P

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  • by RC loves ice cream on March 31st, 2009

    RC loves ice cream

    Bad idea. Elsewhere people just started cutting handles into garbage bags (which are not taxed)

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  • by Amy Druppy_V on January 1st, 2011

    Amy Druppy_V

    I think that the 5 cents per bag is a good idea. First it is just 5 cents, if it is for a one time use. Second this may encourage people to buy the recyclable bags, being better for the environment. Third the recyclable bags are better because of their strength, you don't need to worry about them braking at incontinent places, such as a bus stop. I say keep it at 5 cents so that if you do forget yuor recyclable bags it won't hurt you badly, or at all.

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