tax on bags - for or against? (From Haringey Independent)

tax on bags - for or against?

11:12am Thursday 12th July 2007

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A month after the Budgens store in Crouch End decided to incentivise customers to reuse plastic bags, 10 per cent of their usage has been cut.

As of June 8, for every carrier bag not used by a customer, a penny has been donated to Weston Park School in Hornsey to build a new stage.

But not content with the current rate of reduction, (and I’m guessing in the hope of funding the new stage this century) store owner Andrew Thornton is aiming to cut this to an impressive 50 per cent.

And they are calling on the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help them.

Mr Thornton is hoping to be able to present a petition to the PM, signed by customers of the store, urging him to introduce a carrier bag tax, like they have in Ireland.

Plus from September there are plans to start charging people 3p to use a bag to carry shopping in.

So what do you think? Is this a positive and innovative step to saving our planet locally? Would you be happy to pay to use a carrier bag? Would you sign a petition backing such a tax?

Let us know what you think...