6 cent tax on plastic bags?

[wahoohunter]

Read somewhere that there might be a 6 cent tax on plastic bags in NY (I think it was NT atleast) in order to deter people from using them in favor of reusable bags. Many European countries have a system as such where the tax is even greater. What do you guys think? Is it time we caught up with these other countries in favor of a more environmentally friendly way to shop?

[muley699]

ORIGINAL: wahoohunter

Read somewhere that there might be a 6 cent tax on plastic bags in NY (I think it was NT atleast) in order to deter people from using them in favor of reusable bags. Many European countries have a system as such where the tax is even greater. What do you guys think? Is it time we caught up with these other countries in favor of a more environmentally friendly way to shop?

Who gives a rats ass what other nations do? You think its a good idea to have the guberment enforce regulations to manipulate personal shopping patterns of individuals?Do you think it wise the the goberment get in the business of taxtion to manipulate behavior? Do you suppose that perhaps the tax is another way for the guberment to grab more money under the guise of "saving the planet"? Wahoo, youask a question at the end of your post, why not propose an alternative to your question also?

[bawanajim]

You should feel nothing but glee and joy from the freedom you have been givento leave this evil country and move to one more of your liking.

[Griswold]

I gotta be honest: I get tired of hearing the phrase that we need to "catch up" with other countries. Didn't our ancestors leave those countries so that we could do things our own way? Besides, from what I can see we're already ahead of most of those countries. The countries that have banned plastic bags are China, Ireland, Uganda and South Africa. Catch up to them? No thanks.

It seems improbable that we'll be using plastic bags in 20 years. And it makes sense to stop. If I remember correctly, we use something like 20 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags we use in a year's time here in the U.S. And if even half these bags wind up in landfills (I'd say it's much more than that), this is a problem.

But if we're going to reduce/stop our usage of plastic bags, it has to be done senseably. The oil we use to make these bags in a year's time is about the equivalent of the total oil we use in a day, isn't it? So that's probably not that big a deal. And what are the alternatives? Paper? I believe that paper bags actually require more oil to manufacture than plastic. And if I remember correctly from my grocery store days, paper bags are 3 times as expensive as plastic. So those costs wind up getting passed on from the grocers to the consumers. Grocery prices are already high enough. A tax at this point seems quite dumb to me.

[Arthur P]

Is it time we caught up with these other countries in favor of a more environmentally friendly way to shop?

Yes, I do. In fact, we have been using the reuseable bags in my household for a year now because we aren't allowed to put plastic bags in our city recycling bins. Why that is, I have NO idea.

But I am definitely beyond tired of picking up WalMart bags from my yard when it's windy on trash pickup day.[:@]

[James B]

It is coming here like it or not. There are a few states that already are doing away with them. Many that are still using them are having trouble with things going right through them. Cheap and weak.

What Am I going to use for luggage then???

[Arthur P]

What Am I going to use for luggage then???

Whaddya think Army/Navy stores are for? Surplus duffel bags.

[John the Nerd]

ORIGINAL: Griswold
It seems improbable that we'll be using plastic bags in 20 years. And it makes sense to stop. If I remember correctly, we use something like 20 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags we use in a year's time here in the U.S. And if even half these bags wind up in landfills (I'd say it's much more than that), this is a problem.

But if we're going to reduce/stop our usage of plastic bags, it has to be done senseably. The oil we use to make these bags in a year's time is about the equivalent of the total oil we use in a day, isn't it? So that's probably not that big a deal. And what are the alternatives? Paper? I believe that paper bags actually require more oil to manufacture than plastic. And if I remember correctly from my grocery store days, paper bags are 3 times as expensive as plastic. So those costs wind up getting passed on from the grocers to the consumers. Grocery prices are already high enough. A tax at this point seems quite dumb to me.

It's important to remember that the part of oil used to make plastic bags, isn't the same part of oil that's refined into gasoline. There's some theoretical degree of interchange through different cracking techniques, but it's not a one for one exchange by any means. You're right about paper not being a wise alternative. Paper bags have their place since they do a better job of resisting tears, but plastic actually saves fuel by being lighter and cheaper to produce and deliver to stores. That's part of why paper is 3 times as expensive.

Personally I use plastic bags as cheap trash bags. They're decent liners in small wastebaskets, and they're also good for collecting trash in cars and such. They'll still wind up in a landfill, but they take the place of specially made trash bags. And they're free, for now.

[C. Davis]

I say let democratic run cities and states pay the tax, and republican run cities and states not pay the tax. Democrats would be happy because they voted for the people who come up with ideas like taxing plastic bags to save the planet. They should want the tax to be even higher. They could brag and tell everybody how they are just asenlightenedas the peoplein Europe.

The people in the republican run cities and stateswould be happy because they would know they are not so stupid. That thoughtaloneshould bemore satisfying than the moneythe would keep intheir pocket.

That is how to make everybody happy. That is how you reach across party lines.

I'm
C. Davis
And I approve of this message.

[falcon]

Somehow this country needs to reduce the quantity of plastics going into landfills. We also need a countrywide deposit on soft drink and beer cans. It costs billions of dollars to pick up plastic bags and cans that uncaringmotorists toss out the window eachyear.

Oklahoma is the trashiest place i have eversseen. It is trashier than any third world craphole i have ever visited. The rednecks here always fight any kind of litter control legislation. Lots of folks refuse to re-visit thisstate because of the litter.