tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3471471289744825428.post6548995392819185360..comments2024-03-11T00:31:41.186-07:00Comments on The Oregon Economics Blog: Bad BagsPatrick Emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17242234148546323374noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3471471289744825428.post-20840097089194138652008-08-24T14:05:00.000-07:002008-08-24T14:05:00.000-07:00Nevertheless, there are some issues that aren't sa...Nevertheless, there are some issues that aren't salient enough to rely on Pigouvian incentives (English actually). They would have to be too high to influence behavior significantly. If disposable bags are a serious problem, mandate reuseable bags. Otherwise, if this is just good intentions as jessibeaucoup implies, tant pis pour lui.Fred Thompsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02979504812638374338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3471471289744825428.post-84488016532599151382008-07-31T11:47:00.000-07:002008-07-31T11:47:00.000-07:00Beer is bad for the environment?Beer is bad for the environment?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15572405733046174115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3471471289744825428.post-90052370567990398522008-07-29T17:29:00.000-07:002008-07-29T17:29:00.000-07:00Pigouvian -- great word -- French economist Pigou?...Pigouvian -- great word -- French economist Pigou?<BR/><BR/>Both paper and plastic bags have problems in the manufacturing processes, of different sorts. Paper draws on a renewable base resource & is more recyclable into more paper, but uses energy to produce and creates air and water pollution. It is biodegradable though lots of paper bags end up being preserved in landfills inside plastic bags. (I once saw a PBS show in which an anthropologist who analyzes garbage in landfills made a funny comment on how strange people in 500 years may find it that we went to so much trouble to preserve our garbage by sequestering it in plastic). <BR/><BR/>Plastic uses petroleum, so it is not just the emissions in production but where such bags fit in the whole calculus of opportunity costs of various uses of petroleum. Should we be more concerned that plastic bags take petroleum from energy uses, or that burning the stuff wastes a resource that would be better saved for desirable uses of plastics? My understanding, which may be wrong, is that plastic bag "recycling" is sort of like tire recycling -- it goes crude, low grade uses in things like the material used in the most recent iteration of a playground across the street to make soft landing pads at the bottom of a slide. With some kinds of plastics there can also be problems of off-gassing or leaching toxins that get into the atmosphere, groundwater or soil (though this is a bigger issue with hardish plastics used to hold stuff we drink). <BR/><BR/>In principle plastic bags are more re-usable multiple times but I think paper bags may actually get reused as bags more often. Recently I've been trying to use plastic shopping bags as garbage bags rather than buying the latter. <BR/><BR/>But I think from a municipal (or Metro) point of view the biggest cost of plastic bags actually is in landfills. I am not sure if this cost would be enough to justify some sort of subsidy or distribution of reusable bags similar to the distribution of recycling and yard debris bins.<BR/><BR/>An aspect which bothers me is that particularly at 20¢ the cost per shopping trip for a family with several children for low income families could become a genuine burden, while many of the current reusable bags, bought in multiples would be pretty pricey for such families. If there were a system such that the charge for the current type bags was reflected in a coupon or was punched or entered into a card, such that when it reached a certain level you could exchange whatever the marker was for a reusable, I'd be slightly happier about it. Logistics could be hard. <BR/><BR/>Your point about bags from other stores than grocery stores is a good one.Chris Lowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04332960559170572602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3471471289744825428.post-28988812067204335942008-07-29T08:01:00.000-07:002008-07-29T08:01:00.000-07:00I use reuseable bags and its not a big deal. I su...I use reuseable bags and its not a big deal. I support the fee because I think it would help those who are too lazy or still denying climate change to do the right thing. As far as dog and cat waste, I also spend the extra cash for biobags. I use biobags for my regular trash too - which is down to about one can a month because I am very aware of how things are packaged and minimizing plastic packaging coming into my home. I also compost and recycle, of course. All the little things do add up and they do make a difference. I, like you, am unsure of how the economics of the proposed bag tax work but that's not why I'm supporting it - I'm supporting it because I think it is the right thing for the environment.jessibeaucouphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13837214733210711891noreply@blogger.com