TO: The Hon. Judith Tizard, MP for Auckland Central
SUBJECT: Plastic bag tax
Dear Judith,
As a University of Auckland student on exchange this semester in Germany, one of the first things that struck me about life here was that supermarkets don't provide plastic bags. It was inconvenient the first few times, when I'd forget to bring my own cloth bag and have to waddle my overladen way home. Then I got used to it -- it's really not that hard to deal with -- and now, knowing what plastic bags do to the environment, I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'll be back in Auckland next month, and intend to carry on the anti-bag habit I picked up here. I heard about a New Zealand group (www.bagtax.org.nz) of people with similar feelings, who are calling for a plastic bag tax in New Zealand. I think it would be a great idea. I hope you do too -- it'd be wonderful to have it implemented.
Sincerely,
...
2 comments:
Mutter, mutter, mutter (general grumpy old mannishness)
General undesirability of attempting to promote socially desirable behaviour by legal penalty.
Administrative costs/enforcement issues. Do we really want police swooping in on Countdown to check that they're collecting their plastic bag tax? Do we want to force Countdown to account for their plastic bag usage? Do we want a black market in plastic bags?
Burble, burble, burble (general idealistic studentcy) . . .
The police needn't swoop. It'd perhaps be easier to impose the tax earlier in the supply chain, when the few supermarket chains are buying their huge stocks of bags (a billion a year, or so I'm told) from the few companies that produce them.
As for forcing Countdown to pay up:
--if we can impose special taxes on other merchandisa non grata like cigarettes and alcohol, which I'm sure originate from many more and on average much crazier suppliers,
--and if we manage to force every business in the country to account for their sales of every single product in order to exact our GST
then I doubt we'd have much difficulty with keeping tabs on plastic bags.
Regarding philosophical undesirability: think of it as a charge to cover disposal and environmental costs, rather than a form of social manipulation, if it makes you feel happier.
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