Industry Sues Over Bottled Water Tax

The more I read about Chicago, the more I like the city. Under the initiatives of Mayor Richard Daly, Chicago just keeps getting greener with green moves like the Green Alley Project, the Green Roof Program, the Green Bungalow Initiative and, the latest, a new tax on bottled water which took effect on January 1, 2008.

It’s hard to argue about more green space and green building, however the bottled water tax seems to be causing an uproar. Mostly from bottled water industry groups, a number of which have filed a lawsuit opposing the city’s new tax.

The tax is meant to dissuade people from purchasing bottled water and opt for tap water which is safe and doesn’t produce non-biodegradable waste that ends up in landfills or waterways. The tax would also generate revenue for the city, estimated to be about $10 million. The opponents claim that the 5-cents-a-bottle tax is unconstitutional and will send shoppers out of the city for goods.

I’m no taxgirl, but I think that environmentally damaging goods should have a “sin” tax on them. If companies want to make products that end up as an ecological liability (that they don’t have to deal with BTW!) then it should sting a little. I am all for a thriving economy but that doesn’t mean you can do or make whatever you please even if it harms people and the environment. If your product harms the environment then it should be harder to sell.

What do you think about Chicago’s move to tax bottled water?

Get taxgirl’s take at Taxing Bottled Water: Saving the Environment or Killing Business?

More on bottled water and plastics:

• Groups sue over bottled water tax at Business Week
• 5 Reasons Not to Buy Bottled Water at Lighter Footstep
• At Large in an Ocean of Plastic at Daily Tomorrow
• International Pellet Watch
• Plastic Ocean at Best Life
• The Plastic Sea at The Tyee
• Altered Oceans at LA Times