Trash tax - Bold Strokes - Ireland taxes plastic bags - Brief Article

Sierra, Jan-Feb, 2003 by Marilyn Berlin Snell

The verdant Irish countryside, as well as the nation's landfills, is seeing fewer plastic shopping bags since the government started taxing them. Last March, after a 15-cent levy was introduced nationwide, plastic-bag requests plummeted 90 percent, (In 2001 an estimated 1.2 billion freebies had been handed over to shoppers.) The fee convinced consumers to dig out those cloth bags scrunched up in the back of the closet or to invest in a few new ones.

After just a few months, the tax contribution of those still addicted to plastic exceeded $3 million--all of which will be spent protecting Ireland's environment, according to government officials. The program has been so successful that the United Kingdom plans to introduce a similar tax soon.