[KBC]

Mayor Blumbugger is discussing a 6 cent tax on plastic bags,you know the ones,, the groceries are in them every week...

What's next,A new tax on snowflakes?

[NeedKarma]

Whats next,A new tax on snowflakes?

How long does it take for snowflakes to decompose?

[tkrussell]

I thought George Harrison wrote this?


Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me 'cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman

Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Taxman

'Cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman

Don't ask me what I want it for
If you don't want to pay some more
'cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman

Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'cause I'm the taxman,
Yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and now Bloomburg...

And The auto industry because they must have forgotten how to run a business,
And the people that can't pay their mortgages because they bought more house than they could afford.
And the financial institutions that were just a stupid as the people that bought the wrong homes or accepted the wrong mortgage terms.

And on
And on and on...

So let's borrow more money from China, and give out more stimulus checks, so we can all go buy more Chinese crap.

I sure hope we all like Chinese food.

[ISneezeFunny]

I'm not really a big tree hugger myself, but I don't see why this hasn't been implemented in the past? Most Asian and European countries have done this, and a few Asian countries have gone to set up a "trash tax" per kilo of trash you put out. This allows for consumers to be more wary of what they're putting in their trash, to recycle and save, and to just overall be more conscious.

We put out about 200 million tons of trash a day... which is ridiculous.

Also, let's really think about this. Even if you do get 10 bags of groceries every week, that's $31.20 per year...

... that's not really much to cry over. We spend more money going out to eat.

[TexasParent]

If they are such a scourge on humanity why not ban them outright? It's just another revenue stream for the city; presumably to help with recycling, but we all know that it will go into general revenues.

Instead of putting a relatively minor tax on plastic bags (which in my opinion won't change the usage that much and only fill the government coffers), Bloomberg should offer a tax deduction on reusable canvas bags or give you 6 per bag credit towards your groceries each time you fill one of these reusable canvas bags instead of a plastic one.

[ISneezeFunny]

TexasParent, that's an awesome idea. I agree that there are better ways, but in all honesty, some people are too lazy to go for that "6 cents." For some reason, the government thinks that we're all little kids, so we won't be good for incentives, but we will be good if it means punishment.

I agree, that it's just another one of those money laundering schemes, but the days when we used to be "good because Santa will give us a gift" is over... it's now more along the lines of, "we'll be good or we get time out"

[NeedKarma]

Bloomberg should offer a tax deduction on reusable canvas bags or give you 6 per bag credit towards your groceries each time you fill one of these reusable canvas bags instead of a plastic one.

That's exactly what I saw on my last trip to Montreal. It's the retailer's option at this point.

[tomder55]

Why didn't he propose this when times were good and the fat cat Wall Streeters were making tax revenue surpluses for the city ?

A budget deficit must've made the mayor environmentally aware . Maybe it will pay for all those windmills he wants to build on city buildings and bridges.
IS MIKE QUIXOTE TILTING AT WINDMILLS? - New York Post

[startover22]

That's exactly what I saw on my last trip to Montreal. It's the retailer's option at this point.

I have a lot of these bags, I love them and use them for more than just groceries!
It used to be that if you picked paper over plastic, they would give you five cents off groceries. I do the simple things to recycle. Food containers, and what not. I use the plastic ones to put my yucky kitty litter in... what will I do without them;)

[KBC]

How long does it take for snowflakes to decompose?

I could say,up to 6 months where I am... lol

[KBC]

I'm not really a big tree hugger myself, but I don't see why this hasn't been implemented in the past? Most Asian and European countries have done this, and a few Asian countries have gone to set up a "trash tax" per kilo of trash you put out. This allows for consumers to be more wary of what they're putting in their trash, to recycle and save, and to just overall be more conscious.

We put out about 200 million tons of trash a day...which is ridiculous.

Also, let's really think about this. Even if you do get 10 bags of groceries every week, that's $31.20 per year...

...that's not really much to cry over. We spend more money going out to eat.

And is the trend of the USA going to follow the European way of taxation?

It looks that way,, too bad ,they aren't doing all that well now are they?

[Alty]

Here in Canada you have the option to buy reusable bags at any store. They cost is around $1.00, and you bring them with you whenever you go shopping. If you forget and need to use the bags provided there is a 10 cent charge per bag in many of the stores.

Also, where I live, we just implemented a new garbage service. The county supplied two garbage bins, one for everyday garbage and one for mulch or other biodegradable products. It's up to you whether you recycle, but the garbage bin is only collected every 2 weeks, and you cannot over fill it. It's a good insentive to recycle.

Recycled materials are picked up weekly and there's no limit, the mulch bin (grass clippings, cardboard boxes, dog feces, food products etc), is also only collected bi-weekly.

It does make a huge difference. If we don't do something now, our future generations will be living in a landfill.

[speechlesstx]

Of course I'm no tree hugger either but I’m ready for those plastic bags to go away … along with those giant Styrofoam cups. With all the wind we have here it seems I end up with everyone’s discarded Wal-Mart bags and soda cups in my yard. We’ve had people move to the area and ask if it was really necessary to fly Wal-Mart bags from our trees. They are a menace thanks to the irresponsible people that can’t for whatever reason keep themselves from littering the area. I wholeheartedly disagree however with politicians taxing everything they don’t like. We have local stores that sell the reusable bags and offer a small discount for using them and that’s great, I’m all for voluntarily reducing our impact on the environment.

[tomder55]

I will say what immediate impact this would have on my life. I am more than willing to obtain reusable bags (we do so already at some helath food stores we patronize) . However ; the bags we get from the grocery stores are either collected and returned to the store (many of them have bins to recycle ) ;or are used to collect and dispose of trash .

Their lack of availability would mean that our purchases of plastic garbage bags would increase.

What do we do already to reduce garbage ? Our township collects recycle items once a week . I generally have at least 3 containers of glass ,plastics ,paper per week .Most of this is packaging excess in my opinion and that is where I think the biggest shrinkage in solid waste should come from .We also have a compost heap that reduces our disposing of wet trash.
Although we have garbage collection twice a week our household normally generates a single can of garbage .

But getting back to the point. If people end up buying more trash bags for disposing their trash then where is the environmental benefit of taxing the bags used to pack groceries ?

[speechlesstx]

What do we do already to reduce garbage ? Our township collects recycle items once a week . I generally have at least 3 containers of glass ,plastics ,paper per week .Most of this is packaging excess in my opinion and that is where I think the biggest shrinkage in solid waste should come from .We also have a compost heap that reduces our disposing of wet trash. Although we have garbage collection twice a week our household normally generates a single can of garbage.

Our city is woefully behind on recycling, we have no pickups and only a few recycling centers. You are absolutely right on excess packaging. I couldn’t begin to guess how much is wasted in fuel costs and shipping fees alone to ship those clamshell packed items. Do we really need to pack that software in such a huge box or one sample pill on a 3 x 4 card wrapped in hard Plastic and foil? And don’t even get me started on electronics recycling…

[tomder55]

The ironic thing is that although there is a maketting aspect to packaging ,much of the packing specs are government mandates.

[magprob]

California tumbleweeds. I been seeing them blowing around here too. Get rid of them. Take your own reusable bags shopping.

[startover22]

Now... down the line, what will happen to the ladies and gentlemen making these bags? Or is it all machines?

[tomder55]

They will still be making bags . But it will be the garbage bags that you purchase at the gorcery store. Of course if this issue was about disposal there are biodegrable plastics available for making these bags.
But the point of the posting is that it is not about environmental concerns .Instead ,it is about the government finding a way to squeeze another nickel out of the consumer.