The article in the url link below reports the results of an interesting social experiment:
“In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register.”
The tax had a dramatic and immediate impact on consumer behavior:
“Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable -- on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one's dog.”
The article quotes the website http://reusablebags.com/ as stating that “In January almost 42 billion plastic bags were used worldwide”—that is in only one month! The Ireland experiment shows that dramatic change is possible, given the political will and the ability to approach problems innovatively:
“Today, Ireland's retailers are great promoters of taxing the bags. ''I spent many months arguing against this tax with the minister; I thought customers wouldn't accept it,'' said Senator Feargal Quinn, founder of the Superquinn chain. ''But I have become a big, big enthusiast.''”
Ireland is planning to build on the success of this scheme, seeking to extend similar taxes to influence other areas of consumer behavior:
“Ireland has moved on with the tax concept, proposing similar taxes on customers for A.T.M. receipts and chewing gum. … This year, the government plans to ban conventional light bulbs, making only low-energy, long-life fluorescent bulbs available.”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
With Irish Tax, Plastic Bags Go the Way of the Snakes
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
1215 words
2 February 2008
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
3
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html
