San Francisco, which has long prided itself on environmentally friendly policies, is debating whether it should become the first U.S. city to tax grocery bags to encourage recycling.I have no problem with purchasing my own cloth bags (or whatever) to carry groceries in. My concern is how easy it would be for the various stores to implement procedures allowing for people who bring their own bags. At my local Wal-Mart and Bi-Lo stores, for example, there are these fabulous spinning columns of plastic bags, extremely easy to use and convenient. There is literally nowhere else for groceries to go. Unless you could manage to place a cloth bag into each plastic bag section before the cashier finishes scanning your first item, I'm not sure how this would work.
On Tuesday, the city's Department of the Environment will vote on whether to recommend a 17 cent fee on each bag, be it paper or plastic, in an effort to curb the use of an estimated 50 million bags a year in the Californian city.
Essentially, right now it's easier and it causes less trouble to simply use the bags the store provides. If something like what San Francisco is proposing is actually going to work, store infrastructures have to be changed so that people who want to use their own bags don't end up holding up the line.
2 comments:
San Francisco, which has long been a liberal city, is apparently proudly going their liberal way, with higher taxes and recycling for all.
Sorry, I couldn't help it.
You know, there is a lot of grocery store bag waste out there. Especially among younger kids just getting out on their own that don't know better. And maybe the horrible 1% of America - the (DUN DUN DUN!) rich! - that can afford to buy gold-plated grocery bags if they wanted.
But a lot of people, like me and my wife, use each and every bag we get from the grocery store. Maybe we don't recycle them, but that doesn't mean we just throw them away without a thought.
They invented those diaper bins some time ago that are supposed to lock out the stench of diapers. That doesn't work. But if you throw a diaper in a Walmart bag, twist it up and fold it in again, twist it up and tie it, holy hells, it doesn't smell like kid shit in the garbage - not even after a week (although having a kitchen garbage bag last a week in a house with two kids is kind of a pipe dream. Every other day if not every day is more like it! ;D).
We also have these smaller garbage cans for the bathrooms. I've seen garbage bags sold in rolls specifically for those cans, but Walmart bags work perfect in those. Of course, I'm not paying taxes on those garbage bags I'm not getting. Maybe that makes some liberals want a piece of my Walmart bag economizing.
I'm sure all kinds of people have found these alternative uses for grocery bags. And when these bags are thrown out of our houses, they contain garbage in one form or another. They aren't simply wasted.
It isn't that I can't see the problem, it's that I'm totally bewildered by how they want to solve it. Is there an "Ecology Tax" on regular garbage bags? I see that there is one in Switzerland, where one garbage bag can cost up to 5 dollars. Five dollars for a garbage bag.
And:
"When someone anonymously dumps refuse in improper bags, “garbage police” methodically sort through the bags until they find the offender's name or address. They then send them a $100 fine for illegal dumping."
Somehow that seems completely crazy to me.
They say that adding a tax to the grocery bags will encourage recycling. How? Do they get money back for recycling? We don't around here anymore, and I haven't been able to find anything to say that they do in 'Frisco. It might well encourage people to bring their own bags to stores, but I don't see how it'll get more people to take their bags to the recycling center.
And what about those of us that have USES for those bags? What about those of us that use them for other things around the house - as garbage bags for this or for that? We'll either still have to get them, at a price, or we'll have to buy the specialty "small garbage bags".
So it comes down to this: The liberals in San Francisco are crossing their fingers that they've found some new item to tax, to bring in more revenue to pay for their social programs and their bigger government.
I always thought of operations like garbage disposal and recycling as perfect examples of enterprizes that could benefit with competition. You know what I mean - let garbage companies compete, so the consumers win ( ;D ). Let them see who can handle the garbage disposal and the recycling more efficiently for a lower price. One thing that would definately help with recycling in general would be those recycling curbies on every driveway.
We are a people that know what we ought to be doing, but we are also a people that are prone to be lazy about things we have to go out of our way to achieve. Right now, recycling is the last thing on my mind. But if I had a seperate container to wheel to the street for recycling alone, I promise you I'd be more responsible about it.
I like the idea of promoting recycling, and I like the idea of cutting back on things that are hard to dispose of. But I swear to you, the answer is not TAX TAX TAX.
I don't want to miss your point, of course. Bringing our own bags - or using boxes provided at the store like at Sams - would be a great way to cut down on plastic and paper waste for those of us who DON'T use plastic bags for other uses. Maybe San Francisco should be worrying about how to provide a more customer-bringing-their-own-bags-friendly environment in their stores - or opening up the option of offering the boxes that were brought in with the goods to carry them out (like Sams).
So, to agree with you, store infrastructure could be revamped to be more environmentally friendly. But taxing plastic bags? Where does it end? :D
-AJ
LOL.
Actually, I have three little trash cans, and I use Wal-Mart bags to line them :D They're just...convenient, and exactly the right size :>
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