How's this for a solution to the plastic bag problem that would not penalize poor people ("Bag the bag tax," May 12)? As a community service, supermarkets could give a 5-cent credit on their bill to anyone who brought and used reusable bags for their purchases, as some stores already do. This would mean that those who were not bothered about a 5-cent fee and continued to use plastic bags would subsidize those who were affected by the cost. This way the "poor" people who complained about the 5-cent fee hurting them could actually be better off!
As I stated in an earlier letter, I think a higher fee should be used to cover the cost of cleaning up the bags and the dead animals, birds and fish that die from ingesting plastic bags. No one would need to pay this fee as reusable bags are easily available everywhere at little or no cost.
David Liddle
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