22 October 2009

Do the Greens care what the public want?

No. The Greens want to use force.

Russel Norman is complaining that Foodstuffs will restore free plastic bags in the South Island because of "customer feedback".

Russel. Are you saying if people want a plastic bag, and a private company is prepared to pay to supply them, they shouldn't get it?

The only part of the issue regarding plastic bags is rubbish disposal. Privatise that, ensure people pay for rubbish collection and then that cost is internalised. Let's face it, New Zealand does not lack landfill space, but if recycling can be profitable then so be it.

However, the Greens want less plastic bags, and they'll make you pay the government (not the provider) for them, and the money will be used to....

Because, you see, you shouldn't want plastic bags - you're a bad person for wanting them - so you should be punished for doing so.

By contrast, in the UK, some supermarkets charges for them, some don't. Many people bring their own bags because they support less use of plastic bags.

How was this achieved?

Persuasion.

It would be nice if Russel Norman and the Green Party believed a little more in convincing people of the merits of their arguments, and accepting, that when some people disagree, it doesn't give a good reason to use force.

2 comments:

Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling said...

It isn't my idea, so I can't claim credit for it, but a good way of doing this would be to reverse the fee. Instead of charging 10c for using a plastic bag, offer a 10c discount if you don't.

Reward your customers, don't punish them.

The Word Verification here is "winacc" Anything I add to that would detract from it's beauty

Libertyscott said...

Eric, one supermarket here (Sainsburys) gives people loyalty points for bringing their own bags.

There are clever ways of doing it, but the key thing for me is that it should be customer driven. We take our own bags when we can to stop building up an enormous cache of the damned things.

Ahh "winacc" the left have been!