Not cleaning up after one's dog is socially unacceptable?

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags:

There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are taxis and buses. There are hip bars and pollution. Every other person is talking into a cellphone. But there are no plastic shopping bags, the ubiquitous symbol of urban life.

In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.

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.

At the local grocery store we can purchase durable bags for $0.99 from a display on the way out of the store (after we are asked if we want paper or plastic). Needless to say, I have about 100 or so plastic grocery bags at home. And, needless to say, I'd avoid paying $33 for them if there was a tax.

Hat tip: Todd Cherry.

      

Comments

[reason]

Yep, sounds good policy to me. Now all we need is for this to be applied to other products. My favourite environmental theory is this:
1. All garbage collection and disposal services should be free
2. All products should have an appropriate disposal fee included in their price.

Internalise externalities.

[BoscoH]

So how do the dog owners pick up after their dogs without plastic bags? Curious...

[Ryan]

There are better options for pickup up after your dog. BioBags makes biodegradable dog poop bags (and cat litter liners) as do other companies. Also, why not put it in something that will decompose, like newspaper? It doesn't help to keep using plastic bags and justify that use by reusing it only one once.

[BoscoH]

Hey there's a great idea! Why don't I try to pick up the poop from two Boxer mixes with newspaper. Ryan, you should win a Nobel Prize and change your last name to Einstein for that one. Just brilliant!!

[ZW]

How much would you pay to not have 100 plastic bags cluttering up your cupboard?

[other]

A relative of mine owns a plastic bag factory in El Salvador - if this keeps up, there might be job losses!

[Bruce]

A 33 cent per fee per bag sounds far in excess of the negative externality caused by a single plastic bag. The main justifications I have heard for bans or taxes on plastic bags include:

1. Reduce the use of petroleum products used to create the bags, to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
2. Reduce the carbon emitted from energy used to create the bag.
3. Reduce litter.
4. Reduce use landfill space.

If these are the real goal of a plastic bag ban or tax, this seems like an incredibly inefficient way to approach it because the target is far too narrow.

1/2. Plastic bags' percentage of all petroleum products used or carbon generated is probably an almost unmeasurable percentage. A tax on all petroleum products or on carbon would have a genuine effect (as opposed to being a symbolic gesture), and would be spread across all products and industries.

3. Litter is probably the most valid complaint, but most estimates I have seen show that 90% of litter consists of food wrappers (chips, candy bars, takeaway bags, etc.) and cigarette butts. Assuming that all the remainder is plastic bags, does it really make sense to address only 10% of the problem while leaving 90% of the problem untouched? Wouldn't tackling all litter be a better approach? A combination of increased litter collection and increased enforcement of anti-litter laws would tackle all sources of litter rather than a small percentage.

Also, I have read estimates that most of the plastic bags that end up as litter are small bags from convenience stores or takeaway shops, while supermarket bags are more likely to be reused or recycled because they are larger (and thus more useful as garbage bags) and are less likely to be discarded on the way home. If people are determined to lessen use of plastic bags, these small bags might be a better target than supermarket bags.

4. This is just silly. Who cares if the bags are in land fills? They are quite stable and don't have chemicals that will seep into the water supply, and I can't imagine that they represent a significant volume of the landfill. If space really is a problem, simply increase fees for all products in the landfill.

I think that environmentalists' focus on plastic bags is more related to their having a bad image than having a measurable impact on the environment.

-Bruce

[reason]

Bruce
I thought the main objection of plastic bags is that they don't biodegrade - i.e. they are forever, and they are potentially deadly for wildlife.
Don't just assume your lists are complete, it is always a problem with cost/benefit analyses.

[TokyoTom]

John, I'm not sure where you are, but social rules that are adopted in response to externalities do vary from place to place. I presume the writer of this piece was in Manhattan, where it seems de rigueur to pick up after one's dog.

That's not a problem in Japan, where it is frown on to blow one's nose in public (but perfectly fine to sniffle or let it run).

[abi]

Buy BioBags! Geez, this is not that difficult.