Great ideas popping up from Michigan – tax the lazy, and give to the undereducated! Good to see bottled water join its brethren, Gambling, Alcohol and the Adult Industry (the other vices), as a taxable vice that can help under-served (no pun) sectors of society. The Wolverine State says “tax bottled water and put that money toward education” – read about it here.
The interesting twist here is that they propose to put an end to the state’s groundwater being extracted (and bottled) without what many see as proper compensation to the state’s residents. So perhaps instead of “Tax the Lazy (bottled water users)” and give to the undereducated, we can think of it as a Robin Hood-esque drama: Tax water rustlers and give to the undereducated…and hopefully clip plastic bottle production? Revolutionary…
A similar and hard-hitting position is taken by two recent movies on the subject of groundwater ownership: Flow and Tapped - check them out and make the connection to the basics of the Rise Above Plastics campaign for yourself!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!