- NEW!
by Phillis - Zacks little sister on March 31st, 2009
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 :(
by chiism1 is gone 4 good on March 31st, 2009
I'll just bring my own cloth bags, I hated paper bags sometimes, they busted alot on me
by katydid15 on March 31st, 2009
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.
by Eileen on March 31st, 2009
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!
by RosieGHM Jetpacker on March 31st, 2009
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! :)
by Lori K still ignores stalkers and trolls on March 31st, 2009
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.
by Account Closed on March 31st, 2009
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.
by sidewalkchalk on March 31st, 2009
OMG! I have officially heard it all! Tax on bags? Unreal.
by gracescotland on March 31st, 2009
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.
by ThatchickTandrax on March 31st, 2009
i dont think its a very idea at all.
we already have enough money issues.
by miss skellington in mushroom land on March 31st, 2009
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
by moose on March 31st, 2009
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
by StarFish on March 31st, 2009
another way to tax consumers of course. We need to start doing without the plastic bags and adopt the practice of a resusable sack :)
by Jim in a Nautilus COAT on March 31st, 2009
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.
by JILL on March 31st, 2009
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
by john pennington on March 31st, 2009
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?
by crazystudent on March 31st, 2009
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
by Ditto on March 31st, 2009
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.
by Peetee on March 31st, 2009
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
by RC loves ice cream on March 31st, 2009
Bad idea. Elsewhere people just started cutting handles into garbage bags (which are not taxed)
by Amy Druppy_V on January 1st, 2011
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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Comments
I bring re-usable paper bags when I grocery shop, but now our state wants every store to charge for plastic bags. I'll just keep brining my paper bags everywhere.
The positive is a reduction of plastic waste.
by Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger on March 31st, 2009
Absolutely! What do you think they'll eventually raise the taxes to on those?
When they ask me whether I want paper or plastic, I tell them neither a lot of times. Unless it's a full load of groceries, I can put them in containers in my trunk as I unload. With either choice, I am either destroying the environment or killing trees. There aren't any decent choices.
by Phillis - Zacks little sister on March 31st, 2009
And I read that the re-usable bags that some stores sell are made in countries like Pakistan. We can't even make simple items like these in the USA :-(
by Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger on March 31st, 2009
Sucks, doesn't it? I think Hershey's is the latest corporate turncoat. Can you imagine - Hershey's in a third world country! What a bunch of ingrates. I'd wipe their name off the map if I were the Penn. governor.
by Phillis - Zacks little sister on March 31st, 2009
Hershey owned a plant one mile from where I live. They closed it about 14 months ago, laying off over 100 workers. The plant was here about 80 years. Most people here won't buy there products now.
Sad thing is the plant is still cosed and no prospect for any other business moving in.
by Ed the Jetpacking Headbanger on March 31st, 2009
I am ALL in favor of wiping thier name off the map. In the end, the stockholders are doing the same exact thing CEO's of big corporations have done. They insist on getting their money at the cost of other Americans. The CEO's are just the frontmen.
by Phillis - Zacks little sister on March 31st, 2009