A green tax imposed on single-use plastic four years ago — and later repealed — led to a long-term drop in support for environmental issues among ultra-Orthodox Jews, a new study shows.
The ultra-Orthodox community, in which families are often large and can use disproportionate amounts of disposable kitchenware, viewed this as a direct attack upon its way of life.
Israel is one of the world’s leading per capita users of single-use plastics, partly due to the Haredi community, which accounts for 13% of the population. This group uses more single-use plastics than any other demographic.
In November 2021, the coalition headed by then-prime minister Naftali Bennett introduced a tax on disposable plastic plates, bowls, cups, and straws. The environment minister at the time, Tamar Zandberg, predicted that it would reduce purchases of such items by 40%.
The tax on disposable plastic became a major political issue for this population, including during the national election campaign.
The Haredim joined the coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The repeal of the plastics taxes were the first decision by new Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionism Party.
$10 says the “disproportional usage” is largely tied to them not “working” on the Sabbath and using disposable utensils as a loophole.
See, this is how I know religious people are full of shit. “God is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful! Anyway here’s one of a couple simple tricks we do to get around his rules.”
Don’t forget the eruv circling Manhattan so they can ignore other Sabbath rules wholesale while going about their days.
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/13/721551785/a-fishing-line-encircles-manhattan-protecting-sanctity-of-sabbath
Just pile them in the sink like a normal roommate!
clearing the table is work, tossing trash is not