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Shopping bags | |||||||||||||||||
Plastic industry is one of the worst players in poluting our planet. Most of it is produced and controlled by developing countries like China, India and Thailand or else. In my opinion, all shopping bags, particularly plastic shopping bags should be so heavily levied with ENVOIRONMENTAL TAX that the price goes minimum 10 times higher. Say for example, 1 plastic bag should cost 0.75 or one dollar. So that we are bound to utilize them over and over again and save on polution. Undisputably, they are in so fine condition that they can be used many more times than once. Today, they are so cheap that we just do not bother at all. We keep on buying new everytime we shop, piling them for future use with good conscious and finally when we have more than what we can consume, we just throw them out, specially on our x-mas clean up and start buying more new bags from the same very day. In the first instance, Every shop should be forced to put a sign or message like SAVE US BY SAVING ON SHOPPING BAGS. or ONE THING WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN SELLING IS SHOPPING BAGS. Make people conscious about it, encourage them to cultivate this habit of re-using things to their maximum limit. Especially those which cause more polution in being produced. More and more such effortless efforts will only make us more aware of our climate and our contribution in not deteriorating it further. --------------------------------------------------------------- Give more respect to a customer who does not buy a shopping bag than the one who does. My second suggestion is to give some discount on the final bill which clearly says BAG SAVING DISCOUNT It may be minimal, say 0,5% or 0,25% of the total bill, doesn't matter but it will give you a positive feeling and a sort of encouragement, never to forget carrying a shopping bag from home while going to shop. And if you buy one, you buy it cautiously. In the mean time, develop a viable environment friendly material for this purpose.
Naresh Ahuja, Jan 26 2007
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I appreciate your concern over pollution, but what makes you think that plastic bags are so bad? Sure they look bad as litter on the ground, but they are inert and take up little space in landfills. A shopping bag contains very little material, they're hardly worth recycling. Most grocery bags are made out of polyethylene which decomposes when exposed to UV light.
Toronto, Canada is considering regulating plastic shopping bags.
One time in the past , the stores charged you for the bags.
Dwane,
Why is it said that the habit of Tobacco smoking is more addictive than heroine?
Its because,
we have more or less accepted this habit. ( like buying bags)
It does not intoxicate you to loose your senses.( you say, this poor thin bag consumes very little plastic so it hardly effects)
Its cheap and readily available.( its cheap and readily available too)
this is why smoking is more dangerous. But now, think of the volumes the sigerette factories are producing each hour of the 24 hours?
In the same way, look at volumes these plastic bag companies are producing?
You will be surprised.
And this UV technology? Forget it. 2/3 of the world is not using it.
Have you ever happened to travel to undeveloped or underdeveloped countries?
Its there you will see the real havoc these plastic bags are causing. Not only they are scattered throughout the city but fields, woods, rivers and everything else is infested with this devil. And the factories? Go and have a look yourself.I am sure, you will start thinking otherwise.
The UV light I was refering to was sunlight. Polyethylene bags breakdown when left exposed to direct sunlight. Unfortunately, it does take a long time, about a year or so. I've never been to an underdeveloped country. I don't know if my bags have either. How do the bags I use where I live (Spokane Washington USA) end up littering third-world countries? To the best of my knowledge, my bags all go to the local landfill.
San Francisco has taken a big step forward in reducing plastic bag polution:
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2724123620070328
It's getting to be that more and more places are either charging for bags or offering money back and discounts if you bring your own bags. More economic incentive is definitely a good way to go. However, such a drastic tax simply wouldn't pass or be accepted. Getting it implemented through stores seems like the way to go. A combination of pressure from both consumers (who want money savings and environmentally-friendly solutions) and competition (of other stores that offer money savings and are environmentally conscious).