Thanks to our new environment minister , Peter Garrett, we could soon be paying a dollar for each plastic supermarket shopping bag. Plastic bags are recycled anyway, as liners for rubbish bins. but the greenies don't like them. Their objections to the humble plastic bag seem dubious to me , but hey, what would I know, I'm not a former rock singer like Mr Garrett.
At the moment the retailers are resisting but don't expect that to last. Lets list the benefits to the retailer:
At the moment the retailers are resisting but don't expect that to last. Lets list the benefits to the retailer:
a) Saving the expense of having to provide plastic bags.
b) Increase in sales of bin liners.
c) Increased sales of reusable bags.
And the benefits to the consumer are Mr Garrett?
I would say the benefits to the consumer are knowing that the petroleum based plastic bags that take up to 1000 years to break down in landfill; pollute our waterways and oceans; suffocate and kill birds, wildlife and marine life; not to mention use millions of barrels of oil to produce are no longer going to be a threat. If consumers would just use their own reusable bags time and time again, it would save billions of bags from being distributed. Bin liners should be made form natural biodegradable plastic such as corn and soy based bags which break down in 4 - 6 months and create food for microrganisms, not toxic pollution.
ReplyDeleteThank you for considering the subject at all. If more consumers would demand biodegradable bags for bin liners; would get their trash amount down significantly by composting and would choose products that aren't made of plastic or packaged in plastic, then we could start to see a difference. And instead of charging for plastic carrier bags the retailers should charge for biodegradable plastic carrier bags! :)
Cheers.