Did Prop 67 Dupe Voters in the 2016 General Election?

For decades, the concept of recycling has been getting greater and lesser amounts of attention among consumers, but it seems as though it has always been a huge concern in the Western states, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Everywhere you go throughout California, Oregon, and Washington State you will see recycling bins at literally every supermarket and outside many malls and plazas. The interesting thing is that consumers are not waiting around for the government to institute changes to save the environment. Some are taking things into their own hands. Thus, they voted in Prop 67 but in retrospect, were voters once again duped?

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A Look at the Reality Behind a Tax

During the last general election, voters in California had an opportunity to vote on Prop 67 and Prop 65. In essence, these relate to the sale of disposable plastic bags in the state. Prop 67 passed saying that stores could charge a ten cent fee on those bags if customers wanted them and Prop 65 was defeated. This was the proposition in which money would go to fund government conservation programs while Prop 67 allowed stores to get the money supposedly for ‘education’ and other conservation resources. However, there are many consumer groups that believe the stores are using those funds in other ways.

From the Perspective of California Consumers

Looking back, many Californians were led to believe that Prop 67 would allocate funds for purposes of education in matters of the environment and conservation. Consumers aren’t seeing where those funds are going and actually are beginning to question ‘if’ they are going anywhere. While they aren’t happy about spending money on disposable bags, they don’t mind spending money on reusable custom full color printed bags. While they ‘could’ bring back those thin plastic recyclable bags on their next trip to the store, those bags break easily and consumers are finding that it’s literally throwing money down the drain.

From the Perspective of California Merchants

Many consumers are bringing reusable grocery bags from other retailers because the store wherethe shop doesn’t sell those higher quality reusables. From the perspective of a merchant, it just makes good business sense to have their own bags printed with a company logo on it. Not only will consumers spend money on those printed reusable bags but they will walk out with highly visible marketing! That’s really two for the price of one! It would be interesting to research whether or not merchants would get any kind of tax break for having those bags printed. After all, it is a conservation effort as well as money spent on marketing. Perhaps tax breaks would enable them to have better quality bags printed. It’s a thought anyway!

A Final Word to Merchants and Consumers Alike

The point in all this isn’t exactly a pundit on political moves during elections but rather a way to make better use of what we have to work with. Merchants can benefit from reusable bags in ways mentioned above and consumers can pay a one-time price for a bag they use over and over and over again, saving money in the long run. Isn’t that better than ten or fifteen cents a pop for every bag you buy? You bet it is. Reusable printables then are a win-win every time.