There is a current discussion as to whether or not plastic bags in grocery stores should require a fee. This is mostly brought up because of the amount of plastic waste that humans are creating each year is quickly lowering the health of our planet. Between plastic bottles, bags, and various other products, the amount of waste is drastically increasing and humans seem to fail at recycling as well as they should. This leads people to discuss things like bag taxes to try and promote more people to participate in a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Althought there are positive and negative contributions to every argument, this argument is, for the most part, unreasonable. It is more harmful to our society to add a $0.25 bag tax on plastic bags than it is beneficial. Adding a bag tax is not only inconvient for store employees, it is an excessive amount to tax and many low income families will not be able to afford it.
There are many families across the state that struggle to purchase enough groceries for their family that this
…show more content…
Even if the bag tax is put into place, the laziness of the American citizens will lead them to use plastic bags despite the new tax. People do not boycott fruit that is out of season simply because it costs more, so why would they waste their time buying and bringing reusable bags when plastic bags are more convient. Americans are all about things being easy and convient and paying taxes has not really phased them before, so this bag tax will not only take more money out of the American person's pocket, but be a waste of time and effort. This could possibly be resolved if the reusable bags were readily available for purchase at the check out line, but more than likely, individuals will forget to bring them and obligate to purchase plastic bags even at the absurd pricne of
The article Plastic bags are Good for you, by Katherine Mangu-Ward was written to explore the pro’s and con’s of three different types of bags. Which is better between plastic, paper, or reusable bags has always been a debatable question with an opinionated answer. In the article Mangu-Ward characterizes the cause and effect relationships which have lead to the unpopularity of plastic bags in terms of guilt.
In the case of a negative externality, Pigovian taxes can be used to bring about an efficient level of output in the presence of externalities and into an efficient market (Hubbard et al 2016 page 300). By penalising the product, the tax would limit the activity that is the negative externality. Due to the fact that Pigovian taxes are primarily a behaviour-changing tax rather than a revenue raising tax, the amount tax is only equal to the cost of the externality. Pigovian taxes are internalised by the producer (Austin 1999) and because this raises this cost, the manufacturers would decrease the quantity that is produced. This will shift the supply curve up by the taxed amount, absorbing the social costs of plastic bags as seen in figure 2. Consequently, the equilibrium will decrease to an efficient level, increasing the price will be paid by
Imagine yourself in the middle of a rainforest, listen to the sounds around you, smell the fresh air, hear the wildlife; take that image and get rid of the trees around you, the sounds of wildlife, and the smell of fresh air. Instead of a rainforest you are now in the middle of a seemingly endless sea of trash and waste. The fresh scent in the air gone, the sprawling land of greenery and trees gone, and the sounds of the forest is reduced to the sound of heavy machinery trying vainly to reduce trash into smaller more compact waste.
Using plastic bags were something everyone feels bad using. We use them everyday in some form or another, but we tend to forget the bad that they do. Plastic bags should not be used or allowed in the U.S because it tends to do more harm than good in our society or world.
The debate of whether plastic bags are more beneficial to the environment and our community continues to find little resolution. Although there’s an abundant opposition to the use of plastic bags, the benefits of using plastic bags should be acknowledge. Manufacturing and the usage of plastic bags produce less pollution, require little energy, and is efficient for recycling; therefore, our community should avoid limiting the use of plastic bags because plastic is a valuable material.
The bill passed against this prevented cites from banning plastic grocery bags or charging an extra fee for the bags. Many argued that current plastic bags are mostly made from recycled items and that they produced the same harm as paper bags. However, other argued that the excess use of these bags and the impact that they cause to the environment is uncontrollable. Several farmers also argued that their animals were becoming sick because they were exposed to them and would often eat them. Many industries would also be affected by this ban, but if we look at the issue with the environment in perspective, the benefits that would come with a reduction of plastic bags is numerous. These bags are consumed every day, and it would be interesting to see how much less damage and other benefits would come from this practice. There are many cities in Texas where this ban was passed on successfully. For example, in a comparison between Austin where the ban was approved, and some of the requirements are that the bags must contain a minimum percentage of recycled content, and Fort Worth were the ban was disapproved. “Advocates of the policy are supported by a comparison with Fort Worth, which has no plastic bag ordinance and had four times the amount of plastic bags in its litter stream as Austin. The amounts were calculated based on local litter sweeps done earlier this year in each city” (Miller par. 6). This shows the benefits of the ban and how it has impacted the cities environment. Other places are still pending the approval and in the other hand Dallas is one of the places where this ban was
There is a very simple solution to implementing the tax without causing more work: scan the bag like a regular item. Tax is already accounted for in other items, this would simply work on the same method in the computer as it is scanned. The lower class would not be burdened because the tax only comes into effect if you buy a plastic bag. Paper bags and reusable shopping bags will still be an option, both of which are better for the environment, thus making the tax all the more
49 million. That number represents the number of Americans who can’t access the food that they need to be healthy. There are many non-profit organizations that are trying to put a stop to this problem. Currently, these organizations are getting many donations, from the grocery stores willing to make them, of non-perishable and perishable foods that are safe to eat, and that can be distributed to the homeless or to food shelters. These organizations can help to fix problems related to wasted food, hungry humans, and homeless humans, and therefore, grocery stores should be allowed to donate their food waste to these non-profit organizations.
When most people hear the word recycling they think of plastic water bottles, milk jugs, or even old paper that they can reuse, but this is not necessarily the case anymore. Scientists and researchers have discovered a new form of recycling that is going to help better the environment and it can even help make people money! Smokers around the world do not think about recycling their used cigarette butts, but this new form of recycling has changed some of their minds on this subject. Recycling has been a major environmental issue, but most people have forgotten about it or they just do not care for it anymore. Paper recycling dates back to as far as 400 B.C. Some people even say that the early Romans recycled their bronze coins so that they
Plastic or paper, is a choice that people face when going to the grocery stores. Plastic bags are often the choice that is made. A controversial issue in the world today is the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are used because of the convenience they give, by being able to carry several items at once. However, in the article, “Banning Bans, Not Bags”, Jennifer Schultz claims, “Plastic bags clog up local waterways, litter roadways, and get swallowed up by unsuspecting fish” (6). Plastic bags are used once, then are discarded or, littered all over the place. When they are littered all over they become problems for more than just humans. These plastic bags pose a big hazard for animals on land and in especially the ocean. Humans eat land and
Do you know that there are about three trillion pounds of garbage on Earth? Sadly, these pieces of garbage kill animals when they eat the garbage because the garbage has a lot of harmful pathogens which sometimes give them serious diseases. Even the air pollution in the landfill can also harm the animals which can be a real danger to them because they can die or suffer in pain. If people recycle, then it wouldn't create this problem which is going on the world. People should recycle because it saves energy, reduces landfills, and saves money.
Millions of plastic bags are given out to consumers by supermarkets and stores to carry their goods in. They are also cheap, light, durable, easy to carry and in many cases, free. The most commonly used shopping bag is made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This type is used in the majority of supermarkets and stores. After these bags are used, they often end up in landfills or as litter, roughly only three percent of plastic bags is actually recycled per year (Planet Ark, 2011). The materials used in making plastic bags make them non-biodegradable. According to the science dictionary, 2011 refers to “these materials cannot be decomposed into environmentally safe waste materials by the action of soil bacteria.” These harmful substances are toxic and take approximately four hundred years to break down, or in this case photo-degrade; which is how plastics made from (HDPE) break down. Since they are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment and are absorbed in soil or water (Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, 2010). This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage.
Everyone has heard a cashier one time or another mumble, “Paper or plastic?” as he put their groceries in a bag, but do shoppers know the effects of each vessel in which they carry their comestibles? There are many issues and benefits to both paper and plastic. The making and recycling of both paper and plastic bags can harm the environment. One must also look at the costs of making each bag. The convenience of each is also something to look at. Many people jump to conclusion that paper bags are better for the environment without knowing the facts. Since plastic bags are preferred by customers and plastic bags actually do not hurt the environment as much as paper ones do, consumers should feel at ease when choosing plastic.
...e government can use to reduce the consumption of the plastic bags without causing a burden to the consumers initially is through funding negative advertising. However this creates opportunity cost, which is the cost of an alternative that much be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. This will cause MPB curve to shift to left, towards the MSB curve. However this is a disadvantage towards the government as it cost a lot for funding advertisement. Therefore this would lead to an increase in taxation causing burden to the consumers whether they consume plastic bags or not.
...no more free, people have to pay it and people will think do they really need bag? Can they carry them to cars? I believe there will be less plastic things in the US around us.