China bans free plastic bags

[roddy]

Or before, rezaf. . .

I've got a cupboard full of plastic bags. Wonder if I can undercut the local supermarket . . .

[skylee]

I used those free plastic bags for my garbage. Without them I won't be able to take out the garbage.

I suppose there are bio-degradable garbage bags that you can buy in China?

Same as roddy, I too have a cupboard full of plastic bags.

When I was little we used old newspaper to wrap up rubbish (newspaper was used to wrap meat, fish and chips, etc). I can't recall how to do it, though.

[roddy]

Went to the supermarket for the first time since the new rules came in. First - massive reduction in plastic bag use, don't think I saw anyone using a paid-for bag, everyone either had their own, or was just carrying their stuff loose.

Those of you paying 1Y for a bag - rebel! They're RMB 0.20 or 0.30 for a larger one in my local.

Personally I was just popping in for beer. I'd normally only get a couple, but opted for a six pack which came in its own little handled carry-bag. Same amount of pollution, more beer. So the ban is working well for me.

[heifeng]

Sheesh, I keep forgetting about this plastic bag ban when I go out..I need to dig out my doremon clothbag from wherever its hiding...

Anway, the wangfujing bookstore the other day the cashiers were just wrapping up books in twine unless customers requested a plastic bag...but since I discovered a few mao on the ground while waiting in line I just decided to splurge on a plastic bag....

[roddy]

Yeah, was in the bookshop yesterday and it was the same story - I hadn't thought about the non-supermarket implications.

[adrianlondon]

In england, plastic bags are givn out by the handful. Some places 9such as Whole Foods) makea play of giving you a few pence back if you bring your own bag, but the price they charge for their own reusable bags is so stupidly high, that you simply take the free one each time.

I'm now in Germany and luckily I remembered from a previous visit here that they don't give out free bags, so I always take my own. I know I'm going to forget one day and, out of spite, I'll probably end up trying to balance all my groceries in my arms as I cycle no-handed back to my apartment.

[yonglin]

Actually, a major supermarket chain here in England had a campaign a couple of months back during which they gave out free re-usable (pretty durable) shopping bags. I usually use mine because I need to carry my groceries back home and they're far more ergonomic than the small, disposable plastic bags. Curiously, a not insignificant proportion of the student population at my university are now also carrying their books in the "Tesco green bag".

I think that in the short term, charging for disposable bags might make people use them less. However, for such a policy to be efficient in the long term, you really have to charge quite a bit. For instance, they've been charging customers for plastic bags in Sweden as long as I can remember (i.e., at least the last two decades), but people got so used to buying them that they don't seem to care about the extra cost anymore.

[Lu]

Perhaps the real effect of paying for bags is that people are actually forced to make the choice (and have a little advantage from not taking a bag). If bags are free, shops will be stuffing your things into them before you can even tell them you don't want one, and you have to be rather environmentally-conscious to do so. If you have to pay for a bag, the shop will ask if you want one, and you are forced to consider: do I really need one, or can I just stuff those three apples in my backpack?

Anyway, good to hear that the ban is actually enforced in China.

[anonymoose]

Personally I think this ban is a good thing. Each time I went into the local corner shop for a single bottle of drink or some other individual item, they always tried to bag it up for me. I kept telling them I don't want the bag, at which I received a look like aliens had landed. After several months, they finally adjusted to the crazy laowai who refused the bags and stopped giving them to me without a fight.

But also, going to the supermarket was ridiculous because when buying several things, they used to just put two or three items into each bag, meaning that I'd come out with three or four bags each time.

It will take a little time to get used to the new situation, but overall I think it's a good idea. I read on some news page that before the ban, 3 billion free bags were given out per day! Also, this ban might raise people's awareness of environmental protection, which hopefully will spill over to other wasteful habits like using disposable chopsticks, etc.

[bhchao]

Sometimes when I buy just two items at a store, like a newspaper and a glass bottled drink, the clerk would stuff these items in a plastic bag. I responded "No bag please", and the clerk would take them out.

Charging high for plastic bags and charging very low for canvas bags would be efficient. At the supermarket where I shop, you can purchase a large canvas bag for $0.99 USD.

This ban would be easy to enforce in large establishments like supermarkets. There could be some loopholes in enforcing this ban in small, lesser known places (小吃).

[johnd]

I find it amazing how the Chinese government can decide to do something, then implement it very quickly. When they choose progressive policies, this government system does have some advantages. (don't flame me please )

Imagine if they decided to stop building coal power stations, and instead cover the desert with wind farms and solar power plants. Or maybe implement a hydrogen economy: 1st year replace all the buses, 2nd year replace all the taxis, 3rd year replace all the private cars. I can almost imagine them doing it.

[gougou]

Or maybe implement a hydrogen economy: 1st year replace all the buses, 2nd year replace all the taxis, 3rd year replace all the private cars. I can almost imagine them doing it.

Maybe not quite this extreme, but the government-approved goal of Chinese car makers is to become the world's leading force in environmentally-friendly hybrid cars (for the sole reason that in environmentally-unfriendly cars, nobody ever will be able to outdo the US (sh)).

[Luobot]

in environmentally-unfriendly cars, nobody ever will be able to outdo the US

In Waste We Trust.

[Lu]

I suppose they could just gradually outlaw the selling of environmental unfriendly cars in China. People will still want cars, they will buy Chinese hybrid cars, and presto, within years the Chinese hybrid car industry will be huge. They won't even have to export cars.

[yonglin]

I find it amazing how the Chinese government can decide to do something, then implement it very quickly.

Many people believe the inert nature of democracy to be quite desirable, you know.

I can easily think about a couple of Chinese policies which were implemented a bit too quickly, and without sufficient thought.

[Luobot]

And if really pressed, I can probably think of a few ill-advised policies pursued in our great democracy.

[hbuchtel]

Everybody I know uses those bags for throwing away their garbage every day... what are they going to do now?

It always amused me to see people in US check-out lines proudly clasping their re-usable bags... with a box of 50 thick black plastic trash bags inside... I hope we don't see that here!

Henry

[muyongshi]

That is my thought this whole time....what about the garbage? Do we trade one type of plastic bag for another or is there something different about the cheap ass garbage bags I buy from wal-mart here??? Seems to all be polluting in my mind so why don't we just kill of humans since we produce so much waste in our effort to survive and that would solve everything right?

[bamboo]

By the way, there are different types of plastic bags. Some are bio-degradable like paper. I am not sure what type your garbage bags are though. Some of my cousins are in the plastic bags manufacturing business. In Australia for example, most plastic bags are required by law or by the government to be bio-degradable. Shopping centers or supermarkets are not allowed to issue traditional non-degradable variety although these are a lot cheaper to make. In Shanghai, the supermarkets have really cut down on plastic bag "volume". I think this will contribute to the total amount of landfills needed to bury human garbage before full recycling can be introduced.

[johnd]

I think this will contribute to the total amount of landfills needed to bury human garbage before full recycling can be introduced.

I don't understand what you mean. China is the most fully recycled place in the world. Have you seen them packing through your rubbish at the local collection depot?