by Adam Hart

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2009

There has been one fundamental truth since the dawn of society; no one wants to pay more taxes. I am strongly of this opinion myself. However taxes raise necessary funds to make life in society worth living. Taxing becomes a bit more palatable when it is done for a good cause or put to good use. It becomes even more acceptable when there is an alternate available that is not taxed.

Plastic bags are becoming a spotlight offender in the ever growing green movement. Every day of every week, thousands of people patronize grocery stores, each filling one to 20 plastic bags; perhaps even more. An average of 10 bags per thousand shoppers, at seven days a week over 52 weeks a year, well you do the math. According to the EPA, we use over 380 billion a year. The only close comparable would be plastic, aluminum, glass bottles and cans.

Quite some time ago, the government instituted a tax on bottles and cans. This tax was also met with resistance even though the tax could be refunded in full, if the buyer brought the item back for recycling. In fact, many areas have now made recycling of these items mandatory and will not accept them with regular trash pickups. Please note, you do not receive a refund on the tax by recycling this way. Still most people do not redeem the refund and there is no easy alternative available to paying the tax on bottles and cans.

While the tax on bottles and cans did not stop people from purchasing these items, it did drastically increase the amount of recycling. It also inspired manufacturers to produce more environmentally friendly containers. I am not sure how the money collected from the tax is spent but I can only hope that this too is spent in bettering the environment or possibly supporting the recycling programs. This is not to say taxing plastic bags will not work since in Ireland, the PlasTax, has resulted in approximately a 90% reduction in plastic bag consumption.

In the case of plastic bags there are alternatives. First, you can use brown bags. These bags are either made from recycled paper or can easily be recycled, normally through a government sponsored pick up. There are also 'green bags', which essentially are reusable totes. You can use your own or purchase these from most grocery stores for around $1. Better yet, most grocery stores will give you a credit of around five cents per bag used, if they were purchased from the store (the bags are marked with their logo). This means they quickly pay for themselves, all while saving the environment.

Taxing plastic bags will be difficult. Creating a refund method for this tax, as in the case of bottles and cans, will be even harder. However, 'the how', should not influence this decision. If taxing plastic bags forces more people to use paper, or better yet, the reusable bags; it is a good thing. If the tax inspires manufacturers to create more biodegradable bags that are not subject to the tax, it is a good thing. If the taxes collected are used to create new recycling programs for the billions of plastic bags being consumed each year, this is also a good thing.

Putting the logistics of 'the how' aside, taxing plastic bags at grocery stores, not only should happen, but will.

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