Plastic bags once symbolized the convenience and efficiency of the modern world but as I traveled through Albania last year these cheap shopping accessories left a different impression. Miles of them lined the roads and the railroad tracks dominating the view and literally smothering the life out of the vegetation.
California does a better job of protecting its environment – and hiding its scars – than the impoverished Albanian government. But the sparkling Pacific Ocean disguises an uglier image than the eyesore that became obvious in Eastern Europe.
Many environmentalists claim 100000 sea animals and a million birds die each year from “plastic but that figure is greatly inflated because it includes discarded fishing nets. Despite that error, bags pose a significant direct threat to 200 species, and their presence in natural habitats disrupts life for all animals.
Landscapes in Albania and the United States are spoiled by stray bags, and plastic takes centuries to decompose even when it’s properly disposed of, packing landfills while open land becomes increasingly scarce.
In addition, producing these bags uses energy, releases carbon dioxide and requires increased oil drilling, which is harmful to both the environment and U.S. security. The need for energy independence was one of the few things everyone seemed to agree on this election season, and cutting down on the number of plastic bags that are used once and discarded could help solve that problem. Bags made of paper, potato plastic” and even canvas have their environmental costs as well but increased use of these alternatives would substantially improve environmental health.
The best way to accomplish this without undue intrusion into daily life is through a bag tax.
Ireland experimented with charging customers 33 cents per plastic bag in 2002 despite objections from grocery store owners and some shoppers. Within weeks plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Now shoppers happily bring canvas bags and grocers count themselves as fans of the policy.
Other European countries have long seen wisdom in holding customers responsible for the cost of offsetting problems they create by using disposable bags. Closer to home Seattle instituted a 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags this July pointing to the heavy cost of producing paper bags. No government after implementing the tax has reported problems with it.
But if disposable bags are so bad why not outright ban them?San Francisco allows only bags made of recyclable paper compostable plastic or cloth. Los Angeles voted to ban plastic bags if California does not approve a 25-cent tax by 2010.The tax option a version of which died in the California Senate this year represents a much wiser mindset.
First a heavy-handed ban ignores the fact that many customers have legitimate uses for plastic bags such as using them for trash bags. However all customers should not be required to subsidize these thrift shoppers.
Second the effect of a ban on certain bag types is to force the grocery company to pay for more expensive alternatives which naturally results in higher prices on other items for everyone. A tax in contrast gives an economic incentive for individuals to select the option that is best for everyone.
Most melodramatically but also most importantly a ban is vaguely un-American while the tax option allows the market to optimize results. It is not a completely free market of course because buyers must be forced artificially to pay their fair share – ideally no more and no less – of the burden of externalities such as producing collecting and disposing of plastic bags. San Francisco officials estimated that cost at 17 cents per bag although their analysis set aside the impossibility of “disposing of” bags that essentially never biodegrade.
The word “tax” might automatically disqualify the measure in the minds of some but taxes have proven themselves as an effective technique for discouraging certain behaviors while raising much-needed revenue. Cigarette taxes for example have limited the number of cigarettes sold and made smokers defray the higher health care costs that statistically are linked to the habit.
That tax implemented in many states has not shattered the American way of life and neither will this one.
Everyone should re-use bags without this economic motivation but everyone must be given the choice – then be held responsible for it. Ecologically economically and morally a reasonable tax on plastic bags best serves everyone.