AUSTRALIA NEXT TO AXE THE PLASTIC BAG

NO LOVE FOR PLASTIC BAGS DOWN UNDER, IS THE PLASTIC SHOPPING BAG AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

Australia wants to become the next country to rid itself of pesky plastic shopping bags, hoping to phase out plastic bags completely by the end of this year. The nation produces four billion plastic bags annually, with most of them ending up in landfill.

While there is resistance to the plan from Australian industry and retail groups, the government is sticking to its guns – and keeping its options open. Around the globe, countries and municipalities are finding ingenious ways to rid themselves of this plague of plastic, from bag taxes to outright bans. Whatever the government of Australia decides, one thing is certain: plastic shopping bags are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre! takes a look at the anti-plastic bag movement around the world:

CANADA: In April, 2007, Leaf Rapids, Manitoba became the first city in Canada to ban plastic shopping bags. Tofino, British Columbia did the same in May. Huntingdon, Quebec went bag free last month. The province of Quebec is currently considering a 20 cent bag tax.

CHINA: The Chinese government announced last month that plastic shopping bags will be banned nationwide effective June 1. Businesses who defy the ban will face hefty fines and/or the seizure of property. Read our full article here.

INDIA: A number of Indian states have outlawed plastic bags. A cow found dead in the streets of New Delhi recently had some 35,000 plastic bags in its digestive system. Cows are viewed as sacred animals by most Hindus. In Mumbai, storm drains clogged with discarded shopping bags were partially to blame for disastrous floods in 2005 that killed more than 400 people. Plastic bags are now completely illegal in the city of 18 million.

IRELAND: In 2002, Ireland passed a 33 cent tax on plastic bags. Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. The tax is collected by the government, which uses the money to finance environmental enforcement and cleanup programs. The country is now considering a similar tax for debit machine receipts and chewing gum.

U.S.A.: In March 2007, San Francisco became the first city in North America to ban the bags.

Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and Zanzibar have all banned the bag. In each of these countries, the main concern was unsightly — and ubiquitous — litter. South Africans have long referred to the thin white plastic bags as "national flowers."

While these countries have had success in cleaning up their plastic bags, efforts have failed in many places because of heated opposition from manufacturers and merchants, who have said a tax would be bad for business. In London, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, proposed taxes have failed to gain political approval. Some countries, like Italy, have settled for voluntary participation.

In January almost 42 billion plastic bags were used worldwide; the figure increases by more than half a million bags every minute. Over 500 billion bags are used annually worldwide. A vast majority are not reused, ending up as waste in landfills or as litter. Because plastic bags are light and compressible, they constitute only 2 percent of landfill, but since most are not biodegradable, they will remain there for hundreds of years. Read Karen Pearce’s excellent article on the life and death of a plastic bag here.

Of course nobody needs to wait for their government to ban plastic bags before they stop using them. Alternatives are readily available, ranging from re-usable bags to biodegradable bags made from tapioca starch. Making the switch from plastic bags is a simple step to help clean up your neighborhood, to help reduce energy from the producing and recycling of bags, and to help reduce the amount of plastic in the environment.

Shoutout to Australia for getting on the global bandwagon, and to every country, province, state, and municipality who has taken measures to rid the earth of the pesky plastic bag.

Sources, resources, and discourses:

1. The Australian – article
2. The Australian - article
3. CBC – article
4. Clean Up Australia – website
5. The Montreal Gazette – article
6. The Montreal Gazette - article
7. The Toronto Star – article
8. The New York Times – article
9. Westcoaster.ca - article
10. ABC – feature article
11. inhabitat - photo