Question: What happens when the government taxes retail plastic
bags to the extent that they are almost eliminated?  

Answer: The use of plastic bags increases!

I know it sounds improbable, but stay with me. I spent the afternoon of April Fools day in the Mayor’s office in Seattle. Mark Johnson from the Washington Retail Association invited me to join him. The Mayor’s office had invited the Washington Retail Association to a meeting for an announcement about disposable bags used by retailers.

The Mayor of Seattle has taken a lead position in trying to get cities across the country to adopt the Kyoto requirements for the environment. With this, he is proposing a tax on disposable plastic and paper bags used by grocery, drug, and convenience stores in Seattle. The Mayor’s office made it clear, at the meeting, that their goal is not to collect a tax on these bags, but eliminate them. They also made it clear that grocery, drug and convenience stores are a “first step” in implementing this program across all retail categories.

The Mayor’s office wants to see these “disposable bags” replaced with reusable canvas-type bags, and I think the voluntary use of these reusable bags by retailers and consumers is a great idea! The problem is, like most issues, it’s not as simple as taxing “disposable bags” to eliminate their use. The Mayor’s “model” for this tax is Ireland, where they have implemented this type of tax.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss what happened in Ireland when they implemented this tax.

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