Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags
Submitted by laliltk on May 21, 2008 | Tags:
Read the complete story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1... though it is an old news, but a good example of how taxes and awareness program together can be used for modifying the behavior of people. "Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable"
That was very nice and inspiring stories, actually in India I am seeing the other way, these days most of this vegetable vendors keep plastic bags, earlier they never use to keep. Hopefully something of this sort should happen in India as well.
You know what - seeing such a post first thing in the morning really makes my day! :) I have been really annoyed by the amount of plastic used in the US and UK. I remember people carrying upto 2 dozen bags each time they came to a Mart/Mall or such and they are totally alien to the concept of re-using any bag.
In the 3 months of stay in California we managed to recycle the first set of plastic bags and survived in a mere dozen the whole period. Taxing (pun intended) the right things can make a huge difference! :)
two things to mull:
1. taxing plastic bags can have an impact on jobs of poeple making them.. although net-net it may be beneficial for mankind.
2. taxing heavily can give license to people to use more plastic bags without feeling guilty. so how much tax to be levied need to be decided smartly.
good counterpoints!
1. The livelihood activities could be redirected to alternate industries like making reusable cloth/jute bags or even alternate packaging materials. Like this:
http://ngopost.org/story.php?title=Sustainable_Packaging_-_Material_Alte...
2. Economic disincentive does work for most people. IMO, the most effective part, is hitting the social psyche. As pointed out in the article: "Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog."
Would totally agree with Parul here. A lot of people are hired in Tobacco industry, cracker industry, tanning industry, etc. None of these can be allowed to continue to grow the way they are keeping just employment in mind. Alternatives almost always exist - Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth makes a valid point - the right things always creates good number of jobs! :)
Another interesting example -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/nyregion/07bags.html?_r=2&ref=todayspa...
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