Why I don't support the bag tax
Because this weekend I discovered farmers market strawberries and an iPhone don't mix in a bag. The theory is that we should carry our canvas bags, and my main bag is a canvas bag. However, not all my groceries and purchases play well together or with the thing occupying the bag, and when my phone decided to be one wonderfully designed brick for 24 hours after sharing a bag with strawberries, I wondered how this new well intentioned law passed by the DC Council will work out in practice.Yes, I wasn't for it before the iPhone- Strawberry incident, mainly because the law includes paper bags and I wondered how it would impact pet poop pickup. I wasn't aware paper bags were clogging up the waterways, so I question the logic of including paper bags which are recyclable, compostable, and good for boxes to be mailed. Seriously, taxing PAPER!?
Back to my bag.... I do have several canvas and other totes. And I do try to avoid getting a bag for small purchases. The $.05 credit I'm supposed to get doesn't always get credited when I forgo the bag, I wonder if the charge will be levied regardless? Other problems include the fact that the bag has a limited amount of room, and it doesn't help that I'm carrying around other things in it. Even when I have an extra plastic bag in my tote, that bag has been used and reused for lunch and more than likely is busy holding plastic lunch containers.
My first job was cashier at the Winn-Dixie and there I was taught proper bagging. Part of the lesson was certain things weren't supposed to go in the same bag. Detergents, shampoos, soaps, paper (birthday cards, magazines) and the like, don't go in the same bag as food, like milk, loose veggies and fruits, seafood, and deli items. Apparently the veggie bags and paper pastry bags will be tax free, so maybe there will be a greater use of those.
It will be interesting to see what human behavior results from all this.
Labels: government
posted by Mari @ 5.6.09
7 Comments:
Mari, you are right! This tax is silly and impractical. I use my "reusable" bags when I can, but a lot of times they are too dirty to use and almost all the time the cashier overpacks them, so they're too heavy to carry. Plus I know exactly where my plastic bags end up: either as a trash bag for my trash or in the recycling bin at Giant, not in the Anacostia! They are reusable too! Now I have to buy expensive Glad bags for my trash, instead of reusing my grocery bags. It's another joke on us by the D.C. Council - good thing Election Day is next year.
I'm trying to get better about bringing my collection of reusable bags with me. But if you are not traveling by car, taking more than one bag can be quite difficult.
And the plastic bags are also excellent for the dog poop issue. I certainly use all of mine.
Seriously?
So we shouldn't try to reduce the consumption of a product that comprises 50% of the pollution in the Anacostia (not to mention how environmentally unfriendly they are anyway) because ... you didn't have the foresight to think that iPhone and strawberries don't mix?
On the dog bag issue, I have a dog. I buy bags. For like $5, I get a 6-month supply. Plus, you can also get the biodegradable bags.
I'd like to think that we can all deal with a slight inconvenience for the betterment of our city.
I'd like to second K-Wad's comment.
In defense of myself, I hadn't intended to be far from the house (3 blocks) for very long, and the strawberries were a impluse buy as I had been to the market earlier and got most of my things. The iPhone is also in a protective hard case.
But seriously taxing paper bags?
I tooled around a bit and it appears in some places in the US bans are being met with lawsuits and initaitives to overturn the laws.
Welcome to how the rest of the world lives... NOT like the earth owes them something.
Buy one of the little cotton/canvas blend bags- it'll fit in your purse- for unexpected grocery buys. Otherwise, get one of the $1 Ikea blue bags, or the $4 amazing huge canvas bag, and even a $35 grocery rolly old lady cart. YOU'LL ME HELPING THE EARTH, for crying out loud.
Kinda disappointed reading this post, not gonna lie.
$4 * target * canvas bags, I mean.
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