5 cents for cleaning the Anacostia
i received a phone call today from Tommy Wells’ office – he is proposing a new way to clean up the Anacostia. of the 20,000 tons of trash that is collected annually – 10,000 tons is made up of plastic bags!!! you know, those throw away bags you get from safeway or whole foods. Wells’ proposal would place a 5 cent tax on each bag purchased – 4 cents would go to clean up the river and 1 cent would go to the merchant. Sounds like a winner – its a win/win/win situation that will net a much cleaner river.
Andy Shallal
owner, Busboys and Poets
Considering that plastic bags take nearly 500 years to decompose in landfills, I’m not surprised to see that so much “baggage” ends up in the Annacostia. But taxation doesn’t actually go over well with the average citizen. Bloomberg proposed a version of this 5 cent tax in NYC in November of last year which caused a huge uproar among consumers. But supposed we flipped the blame game: One of the things that I’ve observed since moving to DC over two years ago is that it is the norm here for checkers to double bag purchases. Which makes sense when you may have to walk 2 blocks or 2 miles with your purchases. But this precaution isn’t always necessary. Why not place higher taxes on the manufacturers so that bags become precious commodities at grocery and convenience stores? **And a note for your knowledge: Whole Foods stopped offering plastic bags in May 2008. They will even give you 5 cents off of your purchase for bringing re-usable bags.