Carbon Taxes and Resource Recovery
Upcycling, low-emissions appliances, electric vehicles, working from home to limit emissions, and sustainable eating becoming the trend of the wealthy is certainly a turn from past decades, when it would have been lower-income families utilizing – and often being scorned for – second-hand and patched clothing, dresses made from drapes, recipes that call for scraps from other meals, and rationing gas and energy use.
Today, we have even imposed additional taxes on our vulnerable communities for not being able to keep up with our idealized version of sustainability – Larger deposits on necessary items like milk and juice are examples of this, as primarily it is those with mobility, the capability of coping with high-demand and high-capacity tasks, and the resources of a vehicle (and gas and insurance where applicable) that are functionally eligible to return these costly containers and receive that money back. This is especially true for families, who may need to bring children or dependents with them to complete return processes. Further to this, additional taxes and penalties leveraged on those who cannot afford the upfront costs of an electric vehicle only push people farther away from being able to afford the upgrades we credit ourselves with encouraging.
Inclusive models may require longer start-up times dedicated to planning, branding and testing, but considering accessibility from the start saves valuable resources down the line, when initial results plateau and we are left with a population that cannot contribute to global goals and initiatives, and as a result our long term goals cannot be met.
