BC Enviro-levies
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:16 pm
I just found out today that as of last Oct 1 the BC provincial government began collecting some sort of enviro-levy on the purchase of virtually all small household electrical appliances. I can't believe I hadn't heard one peep about this in the news or from elsewhere.
I only found this out after coming home from shopping today and seeing some mysterious $1.00 charge for "PORT. AND FLOORC" on my sales receipt. I called them up thinking it was some sort of mistake, but they assured me it was as per above. How "PORT. AND FLOORC" translates into enviro fee is beyond me; I couldn't imagine a less transparent way of describing it.
I even phoned BC gov't offices (gen'l info) to seek some educational resources and they told me to ask the Recycling Council of BC about it, but they were closed for the day when I called, so I looked at their website. Must have searched for half an hour for something, *ANYTHING* that would tell me, yes, sir, that item is going to cost you an extra dollar because of all this do-goodery.
Now, I'm not necessarily opposed to paying such fees to save the world as it were, but can we PLEASE have some transparency (a) in how the fee is charged and collected (not sure if the retailer is to blame there or if they're simply following provincial directive) and (b) from the government's own gloss on just how gosh-darn wonderful this whole program is?
I only found this out after coming home from shopping today and seeing some mysterious $1.00 charge for "PORT. AND FLOORC" on my sales receipt. I called them up thinking it was some sort of mistake, but they assured me it was as per above. How "PORT. AND FLOORC" translates into enviro fee is beyond me; I couldn't imagine a less transparent way of describing it.
I even phoned BC gov't offices (gen'l info) to seek some educational resources and they told me to ask the Recycling Council of BC about it, but they were closed for the day when I called, so I looked at their website. Must have searched for half an hour for something, *ANYTHING* that would tell me, yes, sir, that item is going to cost you an extra dollar because of all this do-goodery.
Now, I'm not necessarily opposed to paying such fees to save the world as it were, but can we PLEASE have some transparency (a) in how the fee is charged and collected (not sure if the retailer is to blame there or if they're simply following provincial directive) and (b) from the government's own gloss on just how gosh-darn wonderful this whole program is?