China Bans Free Plastic Bags!

Come June 2008 all stores in the entire country of China will be no longer be able to give out plastic shopping bags for free. The regulation is a part of Beijing’s effort to reverse the trend of their countries severe air and water pollution. As the country has experienced great economic growth due to the output of more and more low-cost consumer products, they have been met with the dark side of critical environmental conditions. Now its time to cut pollution, and conserve resources. The regulation requires all stores to mark the cost of each plastic bag and prohibits them for incluing the new price in the price of the product. The regulation also calls on all consumers to return to yesterdays cloth and basket methods for shopping.

While “white pollution” (as some call it in reference to the swarms of white plastic “thank you” shopping bags) has started to clutter our streets and pile up in our landfills, other cities are seeing the severity of the situation. San Francisco was the first U.S. state to impose a ban on all petrolium based bags, among other cities are Hong Kong, and Melbourne.

So peers, the race is on, and the wheels are turning us around. Forget about the hopes for switching to compostable plastic bags (although better, they are still made for one-time use experiences), get inspired by change then go out and do it yourself. Write an email to your Mayor or talk to someone in the Department of Environment, and encourage a new policy.