Will this bag cost 5 cents outside of Chicago |
It’s
already been done in Chicago. The city charges such a tax on each bag used by a
shopper – to the point where many people buying anything within the city limits
go out of their way to refuse to use the bags.
MEANING
THEY’RE NOT paying the tax, but also aren’t using as many plastic bags – which are
a serious problem when it comes to trash disposal and recycling.
For
what it’s worth, Illinois state government now wants to impose a similar fee.
Which means most likely that people in rural places are getting all upset –
mostly because they didn’t think of this idea first.
Meaning
they’re not collecting the money that does get raised from such a tax.
Now
as Gov. J.B. Pritzker puts it, he sees the state tax as a 5 cent fee per bag,
with people being given the choice of whether or not they want to buy the bags.
Meaning they could avoid paying the fee altogether if they bring their own
canvas totes, or some other form of reusable shopping bag.
Trying to reduce these landfills is the point of the tax |
Which
also means that many people are going to diss such a tax as some sort of
elitist concept. The Age of Trump type of people probably will claim they’re
fighting some holy crusade by refusing to plop down a few pennies for their
bags.
Ironic what I do with plastic bags from high-end stores |
Although
after seeing how such a tax works in Chicago, it seems to me that the kind of people
who don’t want to pay it manage to find ways to get out of it. Mostly by carrying
their small purchases out of the store in their hands.
Or
by becoming the kinds of people who take a tote bag or two with them when they
go shopping!
OR
YOU COULD be just like myself and decide that 7 cents is a petty fee to pay for
the convenience of a bag.
Which
I’ll admit sometimes gets me an astounded look from cashiers who have gotten
used to people going out of their way to refuse the bags altogether!
Because
I’ll admit that I have no problem taking the bags home and finding uses for
them. As in I’m recycling them in ways meant to reduce the amount of non-degradable
waste that winds up in landfills.
Although
I must also admit that many of those bags do wind up getting put to a particular
use – as in I keep a few of them in my pockets whenever I take the dogs, Rocco
and Carmelo, out for a morning walk around the neighborhood.
THE
DOGS ARE well-trained in that they know to “hold it in” and not make a mess
while inside the house. They wait for their walk, and in fact the dogs have
actually developed a ritual where we walk to a particular front yard where they
seem to particularly feel comfortable depositing their “poop.”
Carmelo (left) and Rocco help me with plastic bag re-use |
Maybe
it means I’m creating many dozens of doggy-poop missives that will wind up in
area landfills. Or it could mean my 7 cent purchases are helping to ensure I’m
in total compliance with municipal ordinances concerning the cleanup after one’s
own dog.
Which
is something I take seriously, because there’s nothing I find more disgusting
than someone who thinks they can leave their dog’s poop just lying around.
Something I find more disgusting than paying 7 cents for whenever I buy
something at Walgreen’s.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment