Sunday, January 17, 2010

Bag the Complaining!


The Districts new law of taxing customers 5 cents when they request a disposable bag has created what can only be seen as a worryingly mixed reaction. After weeks of turbulent and often unexplainable weather patterns, not just in DC or America but the world, you would hope that issues relating to saving the environment would be gaining support across the board. However as an article in the Hatchet found this by no means the case.

The law itself, introduced by Mayor Adrian Fenty, cleverly tries to tackle a major issue, climate change, by giving the voters physical success they can see, the Anacostia River Cleanup. However what is worrying is how little people seem to realize that this is not minor problem and that 5 cents is a small price to pay for future safety of our planet.

Most of the people interviewed by the Hatchet that disagreed, did this on financial grounds. How overly focused on 'money-making' can a society be that they highlight 5 cents per bag, as a reason not make sure that the planet is livable for their children? The only positive that this entrenched capitalist psych has is that people are so unwilling to pay the money for a bag that they do not buy one. This inadvertently means that there is a reduction in bag consumption, and who knows maybe DC wont turn into a continuous ski resort!

3 comments:

Alexander Laska said...

My hometown of Westport, Connecticut instituted a similar law last year, and while there were plenty of initial complaints, it's gained a lot of traction. Now, whenever you go to Stop and Shop everyone has their re-usable bags with them, and if they forget then there are paper bags you can use for free: plastics bags cost extra. I think it's a great way to get people to be a bit more environmentally-conscious.

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