Can Taxes Make You Eco-friendly?

In a move that will change the way consumers shop in New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is advocating a 6-cent per plastic bag tax for shoppers who need them at the register.

According to the New York Times, the tax would generate an additional $16 million to the city's coffers. Seattle voters will vote on a similar tax next year, and Dallas and Los Angeles are evaluating similar measures.

San Francisco banned non-biodegradable bags earlier this year, but does not tax customers who ask for a bag at check out. Ireland adopted a similar measure in 2002 (with a larger tax of 33 cents), and within weeks, 94 percent of shoppers were carting their own reusable bags. So, is 6 cents enough?  For some folks, it may be plenty.

At Citarella on the Upper West Side, a customer, Anita Ramautar, said she would begrudgingly change her behavior, if only to deny the city the pleasure of collecting the money. “I’ll bring my own bag,” she said. “Why would I give them 5 cents?”

If our behavior is really going to change around such issues as reusing shopping bags, emitting less carbon and living a green lifestyle, I believe that it will take more than availability of green products and services.  It will take fees, fines and taxes to actually change behavior. We saw fewer people on the roads and more people on the trains this summer when gas hit $4/gallon.  Now that gas prices are back to about $3/gallon, drivers have returned to the roads.  So, the price where price actually affected behavior is somewhere in the $3 to $4 per gallon range. So, with a proposed fee of 6 cents per bag, we will see if it is enough to create a rush on reusable shopping bags such as the Chico bag (which we have sold off and on with our GreenDimes service).  I sure hope it is! You can learn more about Bloomberg's proposed fee on plastic bags here. Photo source: New York Times