Plastic and Sugar Taxes.

[melmerby]

So, lets see if I've got this right....

 

Plastic tax?

 

What about plastic cheese in the supermarkets?

 

Blame the Dutch for that.

 

Keith

Edited April 10, 2018 by melmerby

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...they couldn't run a bath let alone their own lives, and have no concept of personal organisation...

 We can fix this without infringing personal liberty to be a disorganised mush brain. Take the annual average consumption of 'everything' and divide by headcount for a mean charge. Then monitor everybody personally for their consumption for billing purposes. Your monthly charge for 'everything' is the cost of what you consumed, with your deviation from the mean charge added.

 

Worked example, let us say the mean charge is £1000 a head pcm.

 

I am highly organised, walk as much as possible, share one car which we use as little as possible, grow my own, live very modestly, wear pullovers instead of running the CH all day, etc. So I actually run at £800 per month (there's heaps of stuff I cannot affect, all the basic infrastructures investments on which we all depend for example). My monthly charge is thus £800 + -£200 = £600.

 

Someone who cannot resist living a little more expansively runs at £2000 a month, charge £2000 + £1000 = £3000.

[Mark Saunders]

The latter, unfortunately. Nothing beats not using them, or at least less. The catch cry is "Refuse, reduce, recycle", which best sums up the issue.

My Dad has never got beyond “Make do and Mend”.

[hayfield]

In one way it reminds me of the Brown years, when his solution to every problem was to tax it

 

But to a certain extent in some cases he may have been right. Look at plastics by charging 5p (most of which is going to charities) for a plastic bag over night their use as fallen off a cliff. In its self no great deal but the awareness by both consumers and retailers over reducing plastic packing is quite impressive in such a short time span

 

Sugar (refined) the major source of obesity in the western world when coupled with the inactivity that many young and old are now becoming accustomed to. Simple education has not worked, on its own tax will not work, but like drink driving we need a change in the mindset of many to achieve the desired results. The latest generation is the first in many generations to have shorter life spans than the previous generation, society needs help

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

My Dad has never got beyond “Make do and Mend”.

 Rubber bands from a selection of bike innertubes beyond repair? Cut square at one end, oblique to obtain larger sizes. There was no end to his cost saving resourcefulness, I am a complete amateur by comparison.

[Guius]

The trouble with the 'no tax on food stuffs that damage our health' argument is that the resultant cost of over consumption  is deferred until the problem presents its self at the NHS door to be treated years down the line. This cost then, is passed on to society in general to pay for, not just in monetary terms but also in shortened useful lives.

 

Guy

[luckymucklebackit]

The minimum alcahol unit price of 50p comes into force in Scotland on the 1st of May, it is said that is will target binge drinking and is aimed at the cheap high strength ciders and beers sold through off licences.  Personally I prefer quality bottled beers and whisky which already cost more than 50p per unit so I will not be affected.  However there is one brand of wine which in Scotland in particular is synonymous with drunkenness and anti-social behavior, that is the famous Buckfast Tonic Wine, yet will not be affected by this minimum unit cost as a bottle currently sells at around £7.50 a bottle and contains 11.5 units of alcohol.   It is thought that it is the mixture of alcohol and caffeine in this brew that makes it potent.

 

Jim

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

... the famous Buckfast Tonic Wine ...

 So famous I had to look it up. How very curious. I feel some very specific legislation might fix this. May only be purchased and consumed once chained up in a monastic cell.

[bike2steam]

Meanwhile, because of the forced reduction in sugar levels, a warning to all fellow dog owners with pups that have a taste for peanut butter !!??

 

[Andy Hayter]

 

But to a certain extent in some cases he may have been right. Look at plastics by charging 5p (most of which is going to charities) for a plastic bag over night their use as fallen off a cliff. In its self no great deal but the awareness by both consumers and retailers over reducing plastic packing is quite impressive in such a short time span

 

 

 

 

But that is just not the case - as I posted earlier.  It is smoke and mirrors.   Yes the number of single use bags has dropped off a cliff.  Yes there are fewer bags blowing around city centres so councils can reduce street cleaning.  But the consumption of plastic has gone up and not down.  Nearly all of that plastic ends up in the environment since films are rarely accepted for recycling.  It ends up in land fill where it breaks up and gets distributed into the wider environment.

 

You and the general public have been conned into believing that you have improved the environment when the reverse is true.

[melmerby]

Meanwhile, because of the forced reduction in sugar levels, a warning to all fellow dog owners with pups that have a taste for peanut butter !!??

 

30594946_601722436858044_8655692740325015552_n.jpg

Peanut butter with sweeteners? Yuk!

 

Buy this, no such problem:

https://www.healthysupplies.co.uk/crunchy-peanut-butter-1kg-no-salt-meridian.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInd2GyLmy2gIVxZ3tCh0RrQ6oEAQYAiABEgJsyvD_BwE#fo_c=2439&fo_k=2e8501db772bea932614ba192dbbced4&fo_s=gplauk

 

Keith