20 cent tax on grocery bags enacted (Seattle, Auburn: co-op, income, living in)

[PG77]

Don't you think that this should have been an issue that the people should have been able to vote for?

[Haakon]

Originally Posted by tada

I hardly ever buy enough stuff at once to need a bag, so this doesn't affect me much.

Still, it's hard to believe I could hate Seattle even more than I do now.

You don't really think this is the worst thing Seattle can, or will, do to the citizens is it? Give it time, they'll do something to make you hate it even more, probably in less than a year. Like when they have to make it 50 cents / bag next year because they find out 20 cents doesn't cover the cost of the many layers of bureaucracy to enforce the law.

[azoria]

....."Wouldn't surprise me at all to see Mayor Nickels spearheading the "canvas bags to the homeless" effort, while supporting the demolition of low income housing so that some luxury condos could be built using sustainable materials."


......."I bring canvas bags with me when I shop, but I'm not sure this twenty cent bag tax will have much impact, other than to give the city a little more revenue to squander...But it's classic Greg Nickels...he takes strong positions on issues that really don't matter much...He favors taxpayer subsidies of billionaires for football stadiums and streetcar lines that primarily serve one taxpayer ( coincidentally the same taxpayer who owns a certain football team). He might favor reducing waste by taxing bags, but isn't providing taxpayer subsidies ummm, a little wasteful."


......."You don't really think this is the worst thing Seattle can, or will, do to the citizens is it? Give it time, they'll do something to make you hate it even more, probably in less than a year. Like when they have to make it 50 cents / bag next year because they find out 20 cents doesn't cover the cost of the many layers of bureaucracy to enforce the law."


"......3) government is imposing too many stupid laws on us. facism here we come!"


Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Where does the compassionate progressive liberal become the facist left?

Look around Seattle......you have arrived at that destination.

[Adrian71]

Look at it this way. At least you still have the choice to use a plastic bag if you want to. The government could just as easily have banned them altogether.

Things can always be worse.

[seattlenextyear]

What would people think of the law if there was a competent local government and you thought the revenue would be well spent? It seems as if the government's past actions are really causing all of the eyerolling.

I'm actually interested. I find this topic fascinating.

[Freebird2007]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

What would people think of the law if there was a competent local government and you thought the revenue would be well spent? It seems as if the government's past actions are really causing all of the eyerolling.

I'm actually interested. I find this topic fascinating.

when is a government spending of revenue well spent?

[sean98125]

Originally Posted by DestinationSeattle

Look at it this way. At least you still have the choice to use a plastic bag if you want to. The government could just as easily have banned them altogether.

Things can always be worse.

We also have the choice to shop outside of the city limits as a habit just in case we forget to have our reusable bags with us.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

Wasn't a coffee cup tax once batted around? I seem to remember that from a class I took a while ago.

Ah, yes:

Coffee tax not our cup of tea, says Seattle | Business | guardian.co.uk

That was NOT a tax on the cup, meaning that if you brought your own it, you wouldn't have to pay it. It was a moronic proposal to raise revenue for public subsidies for child care. It failed because most voters realized that it was unfair to penalize one product/industry to subsidize something completely unrelated.

[Jennibc]

Everyone is focusing on plastic here. Everyone does realized that paper bags carry the tax as well, don't they?

Great editorial in the paper today. It reads in part " When the currently free bags are taxed at 20 cents, we will buy reusable bags, probably by the millions. Most of these (generally made in China) are made from woven or flat sheet fabric polypropylene (type 5 plastic). It is extremely durable, but unlike the bag it will replace (type 2 plastic), it is not generally recyclable. Furthermore, because each one of these reusable bags requires as much as 300 times more resources to produce than a "bad" bag, it is entirely possible that the bag tax will result in an increase in oil use and carbon emissions." To read the entire thing see
Opinion | Why Seattle's bag tax is a bad idea | Seattle Times Newspaper

This is one of the most irritating things about living in this city. With environmentalism practiced like a religion here, people don't step back and look at the big picture. Anything that *sounds* good is embraced without a critical evaluation. Many of the pro-tax comments on this website illustrate how little investigation those posting the comments have actually done.

We were at a friend's house several weeks ago and he lamented that he always asked for paper and then used those paper bags to line his garbage can. Now he will start purchasing plastic trash can liners. Way to go city in changing our behavior!

Geez, I hope the economy turns around so we can be out of here by January when the tax goes into effect!

[Freebird2007]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Everyone is focusing on plastic here. Everyone does realized that paper bags carry the tax as well, don't they?

Great editorial in the paper today. It reads in part " When the currently free bags are taxed at 20 cents, we will buy reusable bags, probably by the millions. Most of these (generally made in China) are made from woven or flat sheet fabric polypropylene (type 5 plastic). It is extremely durable, but unlike the bag it will replace (type 2 plastic), it is not generally recyclable. Furthermore, because each one of these reusable bags requires as much as 300 times more resources to produce than a "bad" bag, it is entirely possible that the bag tax will result in an increase in oil use and carbon emissions." To read the entire thing see
Opinion | Why Seattle's bag tax is a bad idea | Seattle Times Newspaper

This is one of the most irritating things about living in this city. With environmentalism practiced like a religion here, people don't step back and look at the big picture. Anything that *sounds* good is embraced without a critical evaluation. Many of the pro-tax comments on this website illustrate how little investigation those posting the comments have actually done.

We were at a friend's house several weeks ago and he lamented that he always asked for paper and then used those paper bags to line his garbage can. Now he will start purchasing plastic trash can liners. Way to go city in changing our behavior!

Geez, I hope the economy turns around so we can be out of here by January when the tax goes into effect!

amen!